01 September 2006
Public sector procurement is set to come under attack from trade unions concerned that too many departments, agencies and local authorities still fail to promote workforce development and local job creation.
Final motions to the Trades Union Congress annual conference, published this week, suggest that opposition to the government's interpretation of a new European Union directive on procurement will build when delegates convene in Brighton on September 11.
The unions, led by the T&G, which represents hundreds of thousands of public sector staff, claim that too much public procurement is still undertaken on a 'lowest cost' basis.
The EU directive is designed to encourage organisations to think about local and national skills development and job creation when procuring goods and services – contracts can include such requirements under the law.
But unions believe the UK government has continued to encourage an 'unnecessarily restrictive' focus on value for money and little else.
Tim Page, economic policy officer at the TUC, told Public Finance: 'We're not against value for money as a procurement criterion, and we're not saying that all contracts should be loaded with half a dozen requirements on skills and jobs because that would discourage public bodies from entering into contracts.
'But we're calling for the new directive to be sensibly and flexibly interpreted so that it boosts workforce skills development and national and regional employment.'
Page believes the huge public contracts for the 2012 Olympic Games provide the opportunity to refocus public procurement. The Greater London Authority, he claimed, has an impressive record on linking contracts with local and regional development.
Other issues likely to arise in Brighton include calls for companies to return public subsidies if they relocate jobs and production abroad. While the government is unlikely to heed such calls, the issue has snowballed among trade unionists angered by the closure of manufacturing sites that received heavy public backing.
A spokeswoman for the Department of Trade and Industry, which represents the regional development agencies that facilitate many payments to companies, said there were 'no current plans to introduce a system of repayments'.
PFsep2006
