Procurement is often seen as a source of "blockage", particularly during a recession, when it can seem to be too bureaucratic and unwieldly:

• To release public projects quickly to enable quick opportunities for employment
• To provide opportunities for local businesses to be employed and therefore local skills used
• To facilitate opportunities for smaller companies who lack resource to compete for local contracts.

Whereas there is not much that can be done with existing public contracts, there are considerable opportunities to improve new public contracts, whether in frameworks or individual.

The West Midlands Centre for Constructing Excellence (WMCCE) has released a report (Opportunity in Austerity) on current practice in public sector procurement and highlighted how best practice in the West Midlands can boost involvement of construction SMEs in publicly funded construction contracts, to provide a much needed stimulus to the economic development of the region.

With public sector contracts accounting for around a third of all work awarded in the construction sector and the vast majority of construction companies being SMEs, WMCCE believe it is essential to remove barriers small businesses face in tendering for work.

The West Midlands Procurement Framework for Jobs and Skills (launched in March 2010) was developed for use by public and voluntary sector organisations who wish to increase access to jobs and skills opportunities for local people through the procurement exercises they undertake.

The public sector  spends and invests an estimated £220 billion annually on goods, services, capital assets and construction. Within the West Midlands the public sector  spend an estimated  £16 billion annually.

The Framework enables public, private and voluntary and community sector organisations to contribute significantly to tackling Worklessness, and its consequences, by:

• Making access to jobs and skills a core requirement of procurement exercises from the outset;

• Addressing the real and perceived legal barriers to the use of jobs and skills clauses in procurement exercises;

• Providing advice and guidance (including bespoke templates) to help embed a focus on jobs and skills throughout the end-to-end procurement process - from setting strategic priorities to contract implementation and monitoring; and

• Sign-posting procurers and prospective contractors to the range of support and advice that can help both parties deliver on the jobs and skills requirements to be delivered.

Link to HCA Employer Services offer - here

Link to Business Link On-line training course "Winning the Contract".