Partner Article

New plan aims to lessen blow of cuts

A NEW plan to achieve savings of over £70m in the North East over the next five years has been unveiled as the Government’s planned public spending cuts get underway.

The scheme also includes plans to invigorate the North East’s economy, as public sector contracts worth as much as £500m are made available to businesses in the area.

The leaders and elected mayors of all 12 local authorities and four fire and rescue services throughout the North East have agreed to the business plan, which outlines a new collaborative approach to public sector procurement.

Built upon the platform of the current North Eastern Purchasing Organisation (NEPO), a new organisation will be established, and the scope of collaborative procurement will be expanded to bring together more of the area’s buying requirements, to deliver greater value for money and achieve additional savings.

This organisation will ensure that arrangements are put in place to assist local businesses to be in a better position to compete for public sector contracts, both within and outside the North East.

The plan was jointly developed by the North East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership’s (NEIEP) and NEPO.

A key aim of the plan is to help the public sector focus on supporting their local economy wherever possible, and provide the potential for businesses to win larger contracts as individual authorities’ needs are combined, resulting in savings all round.

Initial calculations predict that the value of contracts which local authorities will collaborate on will rise from £177m to more than £500m once the plan is put into practice.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .