Local Government Procurement Managers were improving the quality of their work by implementing the efficiency guidelines in the Gershon Report while also adhering to the sustainability guidelines of the PSFPI.

• Project Dates: 2006 (4 months)
• Project Leader: Michael Bourlakis
• Staff: Michael Bourlakis, Terry Carroll, Geoff Whitman, Nichol Watson
• Sponsors: North East Land Links

Public sector food procurement is also a priority area for delivery of the Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food. The provision of a wider choice of small and medium sized, locally and regionally based suppliers, to procurement managers, will create more opportunities to address these, what at first sight may appear to be, conflicting requirements.

This study was concerned with current suppliers, those who had shown an interest in supply but had not as yet supplied and businesses with the capacity to supply but which had had no contact with the public sector to date. It recognised that businesses may have had both real and perceived barriers towards supply and that there may have been businesses which, with some support and advice, could have improved both their capability and motivation to supply the public sector. The study provided data to enable the Centres of Excellence to, firstly, consider how the procurement process could be adjusted to overcome these barriers and, secondly, increase their list of suppliers. The project was led by Westley Consulting Limited.