Wealden District Council saved £1.1 million of public money by working with a range of different organisations to procure services and assets for the authority.—Wealden Council, 25 June 2019
The Council spent £30.72 million on goods and services, including construction, in 2018/19, and an increasing proportion was with local businesses as well as small and medium-sized enterprises.
“Savings of over £1million have been achieved by sharing services with other local authorities and making use of government suppliers and local authority buying groups. In other cases, we have been able earn more for the Council through a new approach.” said Cllr Bob Standley, Cabinet member with responsibility for Finance. “Our procurement policy seeks to make it easier for local businesses and small enterprises to tender for council business. I am very pleased to see that this is paying off.
“Over four-fifths – 81% – of the Council’s spend was with companies located in Wealden, East Sussex and our neighbours, Surrey, Kent and West Sussex. Some £3.4 million was spent with small and medium-sized businesses in Wealden, an increase of nearly 12% on the previous year.
“We have had a number of large construction projects over the past year, including the new Wealden Crematorium and Grants Hill Court retirement living scheme. Where we have used firms based in neighbouring authorities, they have been predominately using a local workforce.
“It is important we support the local economy wherever possible while getting the best value for local taxpayers.”
Small and medium-sized enterprises accounted for 46.5% of the Council’s suppliers, but 67% of the Council’s overall spend.
Among the procurement activities producing savings this year were ongoing reductions in the providing leisure services, the acquisition of replacement laptops and revenue generated through encouraging residents to report changes in their council tax criteria.
Wealden also hosts the East Sussex Procurement Hub, which since 2010 has saved around £13million for the local authorities in East Sussex. In 2018/19 ESPH undertook 52 formal procurement exercises on behalf of the three shared service partners and processed 145 returns. This included a joint insurance services contract for hub members, plus Mid-Sussex and Horsham councils, which will yield combined savings of £5.32 million over the next five years.
