Jerry Blackett: Win business with new jobs

Mar 12 2010 By Jerry Blackett

Every year, the public sector spends £16 billion in the West Midlands. Whilst accurate figures are hard to come by, it is acknowledged that by no means does enough of this spend find its way into the tills of local businesses.

If just 30 per cent was spent in the region, it is reckoned that 19,000 new jobs would result. So we should applaud the work of the Region’s Economic Inclusion Panel (chaired and led by Trudi Elliott, regional director for Government Office) which has led the UK in creating some seriously-impressive new tools and guidance notes (a framework) to help more of this £16 billion be spent with local firms and the third sector.

A clever bit of all this is linking the spend to job creation and skills development. In return for maximizing their chances of winning new business, firms must demonstrate how they will provide more job opportunities, as part of their contractual obligations.

Sustainable procurement – using buying power to secure social, economic and environmental objectives in ways that offer real long term benefits – is already a Government policy priority. By creating a framework, the panel is giving every encouragement to all public bodies to place jobs and skills at the core of fair and open procurement/contracting procedures. This gives the region a big opportunity to tackle unemployment levels that are often the highest in the country, delivering skills that employers demand.

This week’s launch by Regional Minister Ian Austin saw an impressive turn-out from across the public sector. Network Rail and Birmingham City Council have committed to use the framework as part of the rebuild of New Street Station and we need to see many more examples like this taken up.

Birmingham Chamber has helped develop a tool for employers which explains in simple language how smaller firms can demonstrate their job creation/skills development credentials.

I came away encouraged that there is real commitment to sweating much harder public sector spending, to the advantage of local businesses. What we now need to do is to ensure every public body adopts the framework and that our businesses take full advantage of this important initiative. To find out more, e-mail k.virk@birminghamchamber.org.uk.

* Jerry Blackett is chief executive of the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce