A new ‘Spend-4-Plymouth’ initiative is being launched this week as part of the Council’s Resurgam COVID-19 economic recovery plan.
The initiative aims to keep the pound in Plymouth as much as possible and make sure all Council spend has clear, concrete benefits to the city’s people and environment.
Council leader Tudor Evans said: “We want to buy Plymouth goods, works and services, to use Plymouth businesses and to pump some life blood into our supply chain - not Exeter’s, not Bristol’s, not London’s.
“We want to make sure that contracts have extra value for our residents; that they have clear benefits for our people, our city and our amazing environment. Spend that is not in the PL postcode or does not consider these benefits to our economy, society and environment will be challenged.”
Procurement rules and regulations means that this is not as easy as it sounds as the Council has to comply with ‘fair competition’ regulations. Buying local has been a key factor in the Council’s procurement activity for years and it already spends almost half of its budget on businesses within PL postcodes, but now it plans to up the ante, committing to a 10 per cent increase over the next two years.
Councillor Evans added: “If we achieve this, we keep an extra £8.2 million GVA in the local economy as well as secure 280 jobs - that’s got to be worth it.”
Across the council teams are being asked to look at every aspect of their expenditure through a PL postcode lens - from material suppliers to sub-contractors and architects.
The Council also wants to lead by example and to encourage other public sector organisations to follow suit. It also plans to set up a Plymouth Supplier Directory, where local suppliers can advertise their capacity and capabilities to local buyers.