2021 Manifesto FINAL DRAFT - Flipbook - Page 25
Economy
Building on our strengths
sector in the region
Despite huge central government
cuts, the public sector remains
the biggest employer in the region
and spends an enormous amount
of money on goods and services.
And we can go further. We can
make sure that people in the West
Midlands have the skills needed
to match public-sector vacancies
both now and in the future, and
can encourage all of our anchor
institutions to adopt socially
helpful procurement practices –
for example, using their influence
to help more members of
disadvantaged groups into
employment.
One of the quickest wins in
moving towards our new
economy is to localise that spend.
This means helping all our
hospitals, councils, schools, fire
stations, police facilities and other
public bodies (our “anchor
institutions”) to buy their goods
and services from local
businesses.
For example, one of our hospitals
was spending £100,000 each
year on curries – which they
bought in from Sunderland. These
are now being sourced locally and
the money is now circulating
around the local economy,
making everyone better off.
The WMCA needs to lead the way
here, and can also help by
mapping demand for goods and
services and acting to help create
new businesses to plug the gaps
so that the West Midlands can
serve the needs of the public
We can far better use the power
of the West Midlands publicsector spend for the benefit of the
region For example, we can
break large contracts down into
smaller bundles so that SMEs and
co-ops can bid for them; ensure
at least one-third of all contracts
go to SMEs; share procurement
systems so that there are fewer
forms to fill in and more
opportunities can be accessed;
pay on time and require
contractors to do the same;
consider social value; and write
localisation and socially helpful
deliverables into contracts (such
as more apprenticeships or local
people taken on).