Manchester City Council

Delivery of Social Value through Procurement and Commissioning 

Briefly describe the initiative/ project/ service

Enabling effective strategic and delivery relationships between procurement and local economic development.

To improve policy and pratical decision making under 6 core challenges:
1. Make the bidding process more straightforward
2. Embed greater cross-departmental relations for procurement delivery
3. Provide better direct advice for suppliers
4. Facilitate learning amongst suppliers
5. Set targets for enhanced impact
6. Understand impct of procurement at different geographical scales.

Why do you think it should win this award?

Manchester City Council Corporate Procurement team celebrate 10 years of pushing the boundaries on sustainable procurement, social value through our supply chain and ethical procurement.
As a result of this 10 years of work the Council has found itself at the forefront of progressive procurement practice with many authorities, and other organisations, watching and learning from the Manchester way and looking to follow Manchester’s lead. The work has also been recognised on a national and international scale with personal requests from the Vietnamese Deputy Minister for Finance, during his visit to Britan in 2013, to meet with Manchester’s Procurement Team to more recen, requests from Crown Commercial Services, Westminster City Council, Royal Borough of Greenwich, Bradford Council, University of Leicester (Law School).
Team members have been actively innovating within procurement processes to ensure that every £1 spent benefits citizens of Manchester beyond the actual direct delivery of the contract.
Working with other teams notably Work and Skills, Legal and elected members they have raised the profile of Social Value, pushed / cajoled and encouraged suppliers to innovate and help communities and as a result created real jobs.

What are the key achievements?

Since 2011, a range of activities have been undertaken in procurement, in engagement with suppliers, and in enhancing impact to realise these recommendations, including:
• The streamlining of tender processes;
• The linking of council priorities to the procurement process;
• The development of cross-departmental working around procurement;
• The embedding of a 20% social value weighting into the procurement decision;
• The implementation of an Ethical (Procurement) Policy;
• The development of relationships with existing suppliers and the influencing of their behaviour around social value;
• The continued measurement of spend and its impact directly and through the supply chain on the Manchester economy and residents;
The change instigated as a result of these activities has been significant for Manchester City Council itself, for the economy and residents of Manchester, and for the supply chain. For Manchester City Council, the work has enabled (amongst others):
• Over £65million of efficiency savings;
• A realisation of procurement as a corporately important function;
• A relationship between the process of procurement and the local economy;