Manchester City Council spend is building local wealth

CLES has been working with Manchester City Council since 2008 to analyse its annual procurement spend and to improve its procurement process so that it addresses local need and brings greater benefits to Manchester’s residents and businesses. CLES has analysed this procurement spend to establish where this money has gone and to understand its impact on the Manchester economy and residents.

The latest findings are available here.

Key findings from the analysis relating to the financial year in 2017/18 include:

• Manchester City Council spent £431 million with its top 300 suppliers in financial year 2017/18;
• The proportion of spend with Manchester based organisations has increased from 51.5% in 2008/09 to 71.3% in 2017/18. In monetary terms this is an increase in spend in the Manchester economy of £123 million;
• The proportion of procurement spend with SMEs has increased from 46.6% in 2014/15 to 61.7% in 2017/18;

In addition to the direct benefits, the core findings from the 2017/18 social value survey of the top 300 suppliers to Manchester City Council, revealed that they created:

• An estimated 158,591 hours of volunteering & community sector support activities offered;
• An estimated 665 apprenticeships created in Manchester);
• An estimated 1,302 jobs created in Manchester;
• 1,788 employment opportunities created for ‘hard to reach’ individuals in Greater Manchester;
• 79% of responding suppliers paid all staff an hourly rate in excess of that advocated by the National Living Wage Foundation.

CLES has worked with the council’s procurement officers to improve the procurement process, so that the social and environmental value of their activities are considered alongside cost, for instance when selecting suppliers. Additionally, Manchester City Council and CLES have worked in collaboration with the supply chain to change their behaviour to deliver social and environmental value; the direct and indirect impacts have included increased job creation and spend in local areas, as well as increased engagement with community initiatives, among other things.

The new findings identify the key changes that have been undertaken in procurement policy and process, and the benefits achieved for the local authority, the supply chain, and the economy and residents of Manchester as a result.

Neil McInroy, Chief Executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies said:

“CLES has been pleased to work collaboratively with Manchester City Council over the last 12 years to progress their procurement process. Manchester with CLES, were pioneers in developing the procurement components of the wider local wealth building movement which is growing across the UK and internationally.  The learning from this procurement work has inspired many other local councils, places and anchor institutions across the UK. In Manchester, the continued and deepening of progressive actions and change is testament to political leadership, officer dedication and supplier support.

Councillor Carl Ollerhead, Executive Member for Finance for Manchester City Council, said:

“One of our absolute priorities as a council is to help people who live in Manchester to share in the city’s success. We’re very clear that one of the key ways we can do that is to squeeze the last drop of positive impact out of our spending, with as much of it as possible staying within the city – helping create and support jobs and stimulate the wider economy”.

“We work closely with our suppliers to help them achieve social value for the city, whether through creating employment and skills training opportunities for Manchester people or providing volunteering hours to work with local charities and community organisations.

“Working with CLES has helped us to home in on and capture those benefits.”

Russell Feingold Director of CSR at UKFast, said:

“Businesses have a responsibility to support the communities in which they are based. At UKFast we are passionate about supporting young people in Greater Manchester who need a helping hand, whether that’s through training and education, or via the charitable initiatives with which we are involved. Working for an ethically minded employer and having the opportunity to volunteer with meaningful, worthwhile projects also increases employee engagement and morale”.

Read the latest findings here.