Achieving Community Benefits Through Contracts

Each year, the government spends millions of pounds on the provision of services and the development of new facilities such as housing, schools, hospitals, roads and business parks in areas with high levels of unemployment. This expenditure could be a means of bringing non-working local people back into the workforce, but too often this opportunity is missed. To make employment and training or other community benefits key outcomes of a public expenditure programme, they need to be incorporated into the specification of what is being purchased or funded. The legislative and policy frameworks for doing this are complex and there has been a lack of detailed guidance, especially in relation to UK policy and legislation, the European Treaty and EC Procurement Directives. In this report the understanding of procurement issues has been furthered by discussions with the Treasury and the Office of Government Commerce. It provides, for the first time, clear guidance on these matters. Specifically, it: details the relevant policy and legal frameworks; sets out procedures that can be used; suggests support that needs to be provided; and gives examples of good practice.
"Achieving community benefits through contracts" should be of interest to solicitors, policy makers, planners and regeneration practitioners involved in local regeneration, in national and regional government, local authorities, the health service, the community and voluntary sectors, and the private sector.