The agenda for last week’s Dumfries and Galloway Council’s Policy and Resources Committee highlighted recent successes within the Council’s Procurement team.
Members on the committee convened on Thursday 14 September were presented with a report that detailed information on a variety of positive steps that both enhance the sustainability and efficiency of the Council’s buying prowess, as well how local suppliers will and are already benefitting from an increased spend with local businesses.
A four percent increase in spending with local suppliers may not seem like much to the naked eye, but it equates to nearly 600 suppliers based in the area receiving more than £56million worth of spend. This commitment to buying local puts our Council in the top 10 local authorities in Scotland for using local suppliers. A local supplier is classified as a business who holds their main business headquarters in Dumfries and Galloway.
In the past few months, the officers in the Procurement team have held consultation forums with potential suppliers in a bid to gain a clearer understanding of the marketplace – both from our viewpoint and the suppliers. A Childcare supplier engagement event was held and many of those who attended spoke of the importance of events like it. The team will be endeavouring to put on more events like this as a way of interacting with local suppliers for various services used by our Council.
Policy and Resources Chairman, Councillor Rob Davidson said;
“This report clearly demonstrates our Council’s commitment to building the local economy. Our Council will use local suppliers if at all possible and my fellow Members were given an excellent overview of how the Procurement team achieve this. I am delighted we are helping local businesses grow. “
As well as keeping our own house in order, our Council is continuing to explore more effective ways of working with other public sector organisations, to see if a more joined-up approach to purchasing services would achieve savings and a more effective service for the public of Dumfries and Galloway. Discussions in regards to this piece of work are well underway and our Council hopes to put in place some joint procurement projects with other public sector organisations in the near future.
Vice Chair, Councillor Elaine Murray echoed this. She commented;
“Our Council is doing all we can procurement wise to help local firm flourish. This report demonstrates the ways and means by which we’re doing this. With Business Week 2017 just around the corner, it is good time to find out how your business can grow and learn about how our Council could potentially use your business to supply us with the tools we need to provide our residents with the services they require.”
You can read the full report HERE
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