A new plan that could help local people benefit from £16 billion of government spending in the West Midlands was launched by Regional Minister, Ian Austin, today.
And he said government spending would be used to boost employment for people in the West Midlands and help access “local jobs for local people”.
The new plan can help:
• overcome the myth that ‘legal’ barriers prevent the public sector from increasing local access to jobs and skills, as a core part of procurement exercises;
• make jobs and skills a priority each and every time a decision is made to contract for new goods, services or construction projects;
• make is easier for all companies bidding for contracts to employ local people and invest in skills; and
• provide everyone involved in public procurement with thorough, practical advice and guidance about how we can boost local jobs and skills through the procurement process.
Ian Austin said:
“We reckon government departments and the public sector spend at least £16 billion a year in the West Midlands and I want to make sure that local people and local companies benefit far more from this investment, not only from the major capital and infrastructure projects that will can improve the economy and quality of life for all our citizens but also from the full range of public sector procurement.”
The new framework has been developed by the West Midlands Economic Inclusion Panel, which brings together leaders from across the public, private and third sectors to find ways to tackle the £3bn output gap ascribed to worklessness in the West Midlands.
Set up in 2008 to address the region’s worklessness challenge, the Panel - funded by AWM - has focussed on developing a strategic approach to public procurement as a key driver in tackling worklessness.
Chair of the Panel and Regional Director of Government Office for the West Midlands, Trudi Elliott, said:
“It is estimated that, nationally, the public sector alone spends and invests £220 billion annually on goods, services, capital assets and construction, and in the West Midlands this equates to £16 billion or more each year.
“Today’s launch is to start to secure widespread commitment from public and third sector partners to deploy the Framework. Harnessing this immense ‘buying power’ can increase access to jobs and training opportunities which, in turn, will tackle the unacceptable levels of worklessness experienced by so many across the region.”
The framework sets out four approaches organisations can take:
• signing up to a charter;
• making a voluntary agreement;
• using specific contractual clauses; but most importantly
• adopting a strategic approach whereby jobs and skills requirement are routinely considered in each and every contracting exercise.
Mark Pearce, AWM Corporate Director for Economic Regeneration, said: “AWM and our partners within the Economic Inclusion Panel have been working very hard for over 12 months to develop this Framework - a first for an English region. I am convinced that this effort will prove to have been of real value to the region. The strong commitment we have to delivering the Framework will not only help local people to have increased access to jobs, but will be of benefit to businesses in the region - as employers and as contractors.”
Today, Network Rail and Birmingham City Council signed up to a Charter committing them to working within the framework. The Network Rail deal is expected to result in at least 767 new jobs being created for local people recruited through the Council’s Employment Access Team.
More information on the West Midlands Procurement Framework for Jobs and Skills can be found here