Cardiff Council has pledged to work with its suppliers and contractors to increase the amount of its spend that remains in the city and wider region’s economy.
The Council spends £410m buying goods, services and works each year – 65% of which already stays in the regional economy.
The pledge is part of the Council’s first Socially Responsible Procurement Policy which was launched earlier this week at an event attended by around 300 delegates from the construction sector.  The policy aims to ensure the Council maximises the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing benefits for communities through its annual £410 million procurement spend.
The policy’s six priority themes outline how the Council will work with its suppliers and contractors to deliver additional benefits for communities across Cardiff. A central objective is to create inclusive employment, work placements, apprenticeships and other training opportunities for local people to reduce unemployment and raise skills levels in the local workforce. The Council wants to work with organisations who share its values and commitment to the highest ethical employment standards in its own operations and its supply chain.
Other priorities include supporting SMEs and the Third Sector, playing an active role in local communities and supporting community organisations, using resources efficiently, minimising waste and reducing energy consumption to protect the environment and promoting the wellbeing of young people and vulnerable adults.
The policy also outlines the types of community benefits that the Council wants to see delivered on all contracts above £1m. All tenderers will need to clearly set out the community benefits they will deliver in their submission to the Council and this would them form part of the contract for the successful tenderer.
Cabinet Member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance, Cllr Chris Weaver, said:
“The policy sets out our commitment to maximising the benefit to local people and communities of the Council’s £410m annual spend with nearly 8,500 suppliers and contractors.
“As a major employer with a large procurement spend, we are in a strong position to make sure the money we spends has a positive impact on the local economy.
“Well over half of our spend already remains within the city region either through locally based suppliers and contractors or through a locally employed workforce and we are working to increase this further.
“We’re intent on moving the social responsibility agenda forward in Cardiff and have already demonstrated our leadership by paying the Living Wage since 2012, supporting organisations to pay their own workforce the Living Wage and being early signatories of the Welsh Government Code of Practice for Ethical Employment in Supply Chains.
“At the heart of all of this is our desire to tackle poverty and inequalities across the city as well as a commitment to continue to drive forward Cardiff’s economy. This new policy seeks to ensure that local people and local communities benefit when the Council spends money on goods and services and our eagerness to work with organisations and businesses that share our principles and values.”
Go here to view the Socially Responsible Procurement Policy.
