How can we make it easier for local companies to do business with the county council?

The county council's Local Procurement Scrutiny Task Group is asking local businesses, if the council is doing enough to help them compete for the council's business? 

The council wants to ensure the council is making it possible for local businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises (SME's), successfully bid for council contracts.

Last week (Wednesday, January 25) the cross-party group had its first meeting and the task group, chaired by Cllr Bob Banks, heard from the council's own experts, the strategic procurement manager Michael Howard and economic development manager Sue Crow, who gave a briefing about how the current procurement system works at the moment and what the council currently does to help businesses bid for council contracts.  The group now wants to find out more about what the council can do to help local companies, apply for council contracts and is urging local businesses to feedback their experiences of bidding for work and any obstacles they have come up against.

The aim of the exercise is to support the local economy by making it more attractive for local businesses to bid for council work and is directly linked to the council's top priority 'Open for Business'.  By doing business locally the council will help companies protect local jobs and support the economy.

To leave feedback local businesses can email scrutiny@worcestershire.gov.uk  or telephone Emma James or Jo Weston on 01905 766627.  For more information visit   the council's website www.worcestershire.gov.uk/procurementscrutiny  

Cllr Bob Banks, said: "The county council realises it has an important role to play in supporting the local economy and it can do this by ensuring that as much as possible of the council's own business is conducted with local companies, thereby re-circulating money, protecting local jobs and helping to grow the local economy. 

"We really value the feedback, especially from small to medium businesses who may have an important contribution to make on how we can make it easier for them to get this business."

As part of this exercise the panel will also review the number and value of county council contracts sourced within Worcestershire over the past 10 years and the number of those that were sourced outside of the county.  Also, it will look internally to ensure the council's policies and processes clearly spell out to staff how they should consider doing business locally by for example, dividing up contracts into smaller lots.

The Local Procurement Scrutiny Task Group will report their findings to cabinet in April 2012.