Lancashire County Council launches new suppliers charter

A new charter aimed at supporting suppliers of goods and services to Lancashire County Council was launched today (Tuesday 14 July) during a special event at County Hall in Preston.

The charter sets out what suppliers can expect from the council and what the council expects in return. Developed in collaboration with suppliers, partners and council colleagues, it aims to streamline working with the council through clearer communication, earlier engagement and a more consistent approach.

Every year, the council commissions more than £1 billion of services. From maintaining highways and supporting vulnerable people to delivering specialist services, organisations of all sizes help provide services that residents rely on every day.

The charter, which was approved by Lancashire County Council earlier in July, sets out the council's commitments to suppliers. These are providing clear and transparent information, holding regular and meaningful engagement, offering support for SMEs and VCSFEs, embedding social value, ensuring prompt and fair payment as well as ethical behaviour and safe reporting.

Launching the charter during a suppliers forum attended by 160 organisations at the Council's headquarters in Preston city centre, council leader Cllr Stephen Atkinson said the whole idea was to make the procurement process easier for suppliers of all sizes.

He said: "Lancashire spends a billion pounds a year and we want smaller businesses to be successful as part of that in Lancashire.

"No longer will accreditation be a gatekeeper, where if you don't get through the gate, you're excluded. If you can do the work and you can meet the criteria, that will be enough.

"We will insist on two elements of social value. We want apprentices. We want young people, and training. And we want these businesses in Lancashire to become specialists that can grow and become national companies. We want to keep that value, keep that billion spent as much as possible in this county.

"We also want to work with companies fairly to deliver and not to end up in contractual disputes.

"We want to make sure you are paid quickly for your services, and equally we want you to treat your supply chain in the same way. We are very passionate about the way suppliers are treated by their contractors.

"We want these small businesses, these people that can't sleep when they're worrying about paying the wages, we want them to be paid. And we want them to be treated with respect. And we want you to grow together with them.

"We also want you to innovate. We have a supplier in Lancashire called Multivo who came up with an innovative solution for fixing roads. Instead of digging the road for a pothole and taking the waste away, they ground up that material, cleaned it, and redid it, so there was no landfill. It was a better repair.

"We want innovation like that. We want you to talk to us and say, 'we think we can do this better', and we will be open to those suggestions.

"We need investments in innovation, and if you want to invest in something, come and talk to us. We really want to work with you, to help you be a success, to help Lancashire be a success. And to give Lancashire people jobs and opportunity."

In addition to the council's commitments to suppliers, the charter outlines a set of shared principles shaped by feedback from colleagues, suppliers and partners. The principles will guide the council's day-to-day relationships across commissioning, procurement and contract management. The principles are:

• Working together through partnership and co-design
• Embracing technology and innovation
• Being flexible and adaptable
• Managing risk responsibly
• Delivering social value together
• Fairness and transparency

And suppliers are also asked to sign up to a set of expectations, including acting legally, ethically and professionally, communicating openly and honestly, delivering social value in practice, managing workforce and supply chain responsibly and managing risk and service continuity.

As part of the event, council leaders promised to make engaging with suppliers a key part of the ongoing development of the charter, with further events planned to take place in future.