Cumbria leader calls for red tape to be cut to help councils buy local

Cumbria County Council's leader has called for the Government to make it easier for local authorities to navigate complex European legislation on procurement so that they can award a fair share of contracts to local businesses, small and medium sized enterprises and the third sector.

In a letter to Business Secretary Vince Cable MP, Cllr Eddie Martin, leader of Cumbria County Council, says: "Over the past few months we have noticed an increasing trend of smaller organisations, including those from the third sector, losing out when bidding for new contracts as competition becomes even more fierce. Such suppliers often struggle with the level of bureaucracy within the EU Regulations and often find it difficult when competing with larger organisations which have resources dedicated to bidding for contracts."

Cllr Martin points out that, even though Cumbria County Council has worked hard to alleviate the issue by improving access to public sector contracts and proactively working with a range of business and third sector support organisations, the odds are often stacked against the smaller bidders when competing for public sector contracts.

"These smaller suppliers provide an important role in our economy, stimulating economic growth and providing local employment, and are often best placed to deliver services at a local level, directly responding to the needs of our communities," says the letter.

Cumbria County Council compares favourably with national averages on the proportion of contracts awarded to local businesses. Currently 56% of all suppliers to Cumbria County Council are based in Cumbria. This is thanks to:

- The introduction in 2007 of The Chest, a free-to-use portal and tendering system which offers far greater access to new business opportunities and now has 1,700 local suppliers registered.

- Using innovative 'social benefit' clauses such as the creation of job and training opportunities when considering the award of construction and care contracts.

- Early market engagement and providing practical guides and training to local businesses on how to tender.

- Working with other public sector partners to develop co-ordinated procurement strategies and collaborative contracts.

The county council's work in this area has received external recognition, with its food procurement being used as a case study of good practice by the Open University and its procurement department winning several awards for its work in sustainable procurement.

Cllr Martin recognises the need for public procurement to be underpinned by the need to secure exceptional value for money and service improvement from its contracts, but has highlighted his concerns to the Business Secretary that smaller organisations are not able to compete on a level playing field. He says the restrictions placed on the council by the EU Procurement legislation makes it difficult for the council to use policy objectives, such as local service provision and community benefit, as part of the evaluation criteria without running a risk of legal challenge.

Cllr Martin said: "The council is keen to support the local economy, but the current system puts too many obstacles in our way for us to be able to do that as much as I would like. Obtaining maximum value from the public purse is a key priority, and we obviously have to act legally and fairly when procuring goods. But something is wrong with a system which can see a Cumbrian company losing out in the tendering process only to be then sub-contracted by the successful firm to do the work on their behalf.

"Let's cut the red tape, reduce the hoops that businesses have to jump through and allow us to use a common sense approach to buying goods and services. Public organisations often use 'framework contracts' when buying goods and services simply because it is so slow and onerous to retender for business every time we need to get something done. If Cumbrian businesses are not part of those framework contracts then they will not have the opportunity to compete for that work in the future. The situation is only going to become more acute in the current economic climate as more and more firms compete for a shrinking pot of new business."