Agenda item

To consider the following motion submitted by Councillors Tim Hamilton-Cox and Caroline Jackson:-

This council applauds the work of Preston city council in promoting local procurement by '12 of Preston’s key employers who were helped to reorganise their supply chains and identify where they could buy goods and services locally, stopping 61% of their procurement budget being spent outside the Lancashire economy.'

This council notes:

1)            That several members of cabinet, other city councillors and a senior officer attended a meeting in the Gregson centre in May at which Cllr Matthew Brown, the responsible cabinet member on Preston city council, spoke about how far procurement has been localised and the benefits which have ensued for local businesses;

2)            The key role of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) in facilitating the work to localise procurement amongst the key employers (including the city council) in Preston;

3)            The availability of the 2017-18 £500k economic development budget to fund a commission from CLES.

4)            This council resolves to request that cabinet commission a report from the economic development team in the city council on replicating the 'Preston model' in Lancaster district, to be presented to October cabinet.

An officer briefing note is attached.

The following motion of which notice had been given to the Chief Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15 was moved by Councillor Hamilton-Cox and seconded by Councillor Caroline Jackson:-

“This Council applauds the work of Preston City Council in promoting local procurement by 12 of Preston’s key employers who were helped to reorganise their supply chains and identify where they could buy goods and services locally, stopping 61% of their procurement budget being spent outside the Lancashire economy.

This Council notes:

1)            That several members of Cabinet, other City Councillors and a senior officer attended a meeting in the Gregson Centre in May at which Cllr Matthew Brown, the responsible Cabinet Member on Preston City Council, spoke about how far procurement has been localised and the benefits which have ensued for local businesses;

2)            The key role of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) in facilitating the work to localise procurement amongst the key employers (including the City Council) in Preston;

3)            The availability of the 2017-18 £500k economic development budget to fund a commission from CLES.

This Council resolves to request that Cabinet commission a report from the economic development team in the City Council on replicating the 'Preston model' in Lancaster district, to be presented to October Cabinet.”

An officer briefing note was included with the agenda, to inform and assist Councillors’ debate.

An amendment to the motion was moved by Councillor Whitehead and seconded by Councillor Burns:

“That point 3 and the resolution be replaced with:

3.         Officers from Lancaster City Council have had discussions with officers from Preston City Council to explore the potential for taking a similar approach here.

This council resolves to request that as part of the development of its own economic strategy, the economic development team investigate the ‘Preston model’ alongside other potential models for implementation in the Lancaster district.”

(The meeting adjourned at 6.40pm and reconvened at 6.45pm)

With the agreement of the meeting and his seconder, Councillor Hamilton-Cox accepted this as a friendly amendment, with the following addition; ‘An interim report will be made available by January 2018.”

At the conclusion of the debate a vote was taken and the motion was clearly carried.

Resolved:-

This Council applauds the work of Preston City Council in promoting local procurement by 12 of Preston’s key employers who were helped to reorganise their supply chains and identify where they could buy goods and services locally, stopping 61% of their procurement budget being spent outside the Lancashire economy.

This council notes:

1)            That several members of Cabinet, other City Councillors and a senior officer attended a meeting in the Gregson Centre in May at which Cllr Matthew Brown, the responsible Cabinet Member on Preston City Council, spoke about how far procurement has been localised and the benefits which have ensued for local businesses;

2)            The key role of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES) in facilitating the work to localise procurement amongst the key employers (including the city council) in Preston;

3)         Officers from Lancaster City Council have had discussions with officers from Preston City Council to explore the potential for taking a similar approach here.

This council resolves to request that as part of the development of its own economic strategy, the economic development team investigate the ‘Preston model’ alongside other potential models for implementation in the Lancaster district. An interim report will be made available by January 2018.