Jane Hutt tells Belfast conference of procurement success in Wales
9 Apr 2014 03:17 PM
Wales’ Finance Minister, Jane Hutt
yesterday told a conference in Belfast of the huge progress the Welsh
Government has made in its procurement policy to eradicate blacklisting,
improve community benefits and open up contracts for businesses in
Wales
Speaking at an event organised by the Irish Congress of
Trade Unions, the Minister highlighted the success of the Community Benefits
policy and spoke of her commitment to improving opportunities for small
businesses in Wales.
The
Minister also spoke about how the Welsh Government is leading the way in
ensuring public sector bodies are able to exclude blacklisters from bidding for
public sector contracts.
Jane Hutt said:
"In December 2012 I launched the Wales Procurement
Policy Statement which includes all of the approaches promoted by the Welsh
Government that help to balance the need for securing efficiencies through
procurement against the opportunity of delivering wider social and economic
benefits.
"Our Community Benefits policy is a key part of the
Policy statement. This policy builds social clauses into contracts and
has targeted recruitment and training as a primary objective that includes
apprenticeships and trainee opportunities.
"The Policy is making a positive difference for the
people and communities of Wales. The results from the first completed 28
projects, worth £360m, that have applied the policy show that 84% has
been re-invested in Wales. £95.4m has gone directly on salaries to
Welsh people and £216m with Welsh-based businesses.
"Since launching the Statement, I have also taken
the initiative on introducing policy that enables us to use procurement to
protect the interests of vulnerable members of society. In September last year,
I issued guidance to every public body in Wales setting out how procurement can
be used to help eliminate the abhorrent practice of blacklisting. This has had
immediate impact. Contractors who have previously used blacklists are now
providing evidence that illustrates that our policy is changing their
behaviours and are adopting the responsible business standards that we
expect."
Speaking about the other policies contained within the
Policy Statement the Minister added:
"My policies are committed to ensuring that
contracts are open and accessible for all suppliers. The number of
advertisements for contract opportunities below the European Thresholds on our
national procurement portal, Sell2Wales, continues to grow and now stands at
81% of all opportunities advertised. Visibility of these contracts is
vital for smaller, local suppliers and third sector organisations.
"I’m pleased with the progress we have made
over the last twelve months and I am committed to driving forward this agenda
to even greater effect.
"Our innovative procurement policies, designed in
consultation with business and public sector stakeholders, have opened the
doors for smaller, local suppliers as well as creating employment opportunities
for local people.
"It’s important that we maintain this
collective effort so we can use the experience of others to inform our future
thinking."