Andrew Bingham
Main Page: Andrew Bingham (Conservative - High Peak)Local Government Procurement
Andrew Bingham Excerpts(11 years, 11 months ago)
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Andrew Gwynne
My hon. Friend makes an important point, because the impact of the local government settlement on a council such as Tameside has been nothing short of devastating. Projections show that coming years will be very difficult for Tameside and other boroughs if things do not improve substantially. That will involve not just the council’s own budget, but the wider local economy. The amount of money being taken out of areas like Tameside will have a devastating impact on the communities we represent.
I want to highlight some of the good work being done in my constituency. The importance of local procurement to support small and medium-sized enterprises is well known. Research in 2005 by the New Economics Foundation with Northumberland county council suggested that for every £1 of direct spending in the local economy, the total value, including indirect spend, equates to £1.76. At the start of the economic downturn, Tameside metropolitan borough council, one of two councils covering my constituency, introduced the Tameside Works First initiative to give more support to local companies and to help to boost the local economy. It was spearheaded by Councillor Keiran Quinn, then the cabinet member for economic development and now the executive leader of the council, precisely to provide support to local companies. Under that programme, specific capital projects and programmes were designated to be supplied locally when possible. At the same time, partner organisations were encouraged to sign up to a local procurement charter, committing themselves also to support a local supply chain.
Andrew Bingham (High Peak) (Con)
I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate. Ours are neighbouring seats and we share some cross-constituency issues. Does he agree that, to help small local businesses, it is important to remove many parts of the bureaucratic process, such as pre-qualification questionnaires? Small businesses tell me that they must complete these big questionnaires, often for small orders.
Andrew Gwynne
I agree that a lot of unnecessary bureaucracy is often tied up with some contracts. Tameside council has tried to enable small local businesses, no doubt including businesses in the High Peak area, to access council contracts.