Businesses bidding for government contracts - a market worth £90bn per year - will be judged on their commitment to creating high-quality British jobs, tackling local skills shortages, and supporting young people into apprenticeships and work placements.
The Government wants every young person to have the chance to earn or learn. New rules will double the importance of creating local benefits when the government buys goods or services - ensuring spending directly creates training, work experience, and jobs in every postcode.
Under the changes, the score for bringing benefits to the local community will be raised from 10% to 20% for contracts worth £5m or more, ensuring procurement, whether from UK or international providers, helps support communities.
The changes will also help smaller, scaling and innovative businesses and civil society organisations who have so much to offer the public sector, but often find themselves locked out of contracts because of layers of red tape and burdensome requirements, which larger organisations know how to navigate. The rules have been simplified and the threshold raised to contracts of more than £1 million so they don’t typically apply to the work smaller firms and local social enterprises are bidding for. This will better allow both smaller businesses and civil society to showcase their innovation and the benefits they are already delivering in communities.
Date: 6 August