04.10.12
Social value recommended in Liverpool policy
Liverpool City Council has announced a major shake-up of contracts, going beyond the Government’s Social Value Act, to support local jobs and skills and promote social enterprises.
A report to the Mayor’s cabinet is recommending placing emphasis on socially responsible contractors and suppliers when procuring with the £270m budget for buying in goods and services from third parties.
A new procurement board is being set up to coordinate activity across the council, and will seek to prefer organisations with: a smaller gap between highest and lowest paid staff; social enterprises which put their profits back into developing the business; and those that can demonstrate clear local benefits.
Recruitment, training, supply chain and work experience opportunities will also be considered.
The new policy means that jobs and skills contract clauses will be considered first when awarding all new service and construction framework agreements, or contracts which have an annual value of more than £1m.
All existing service and construction contracts that are framework contracts or have an annual value of more than £5m will be subject to negotiated voluntary agreements, and all existing goods/product supply contracts with a value of more than £1m and existing service and construction contracts that are framework contracts or have an annual value of £1 – £5m will be subject to a jobs and skills charter.
Deputy Mayor and Cabinet member for Finance, Cllr Paul Brant, said: “The new procurement policy is a shift towards making sure every penny of our spending benefits local people.
“The city council spends substantial amounts of money and it has the potential to really boost the local economy.
“This is about saying to firms that, in return for being awarded major contracts, we want them to demonstrate their commitment to developing jobs and skills in the city.
“We hope it will particularly help local suppliers, boost social enterprise and encourage small and medium sized enterprises to grow.”
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