Forward
Blackpool Council provides around 150 services to 142,000 Blackpool residents.
Blackpool might be the biggest and the brightest but it is not without its challenges. We have major social and health issues to deal with, whilst needing to develop and innovate so our town meets the changing desires of modern day audiences.
We need to take advantage of other opportunities opening up – in fields like energy generation with the same vigor our predecessors had when building iconic attractions such as the Winter Gardens, the Tower and Tower Buildings, the Pleasure Beach, and of course, the true one-off that is the Blackpool Illuminations.
Like many seaside towns, Blackpool faces challenges to deliver economic growth and new jobs, improve its environment and support people in its communities to be better educated, healthier and happier.
Blackpool Council cannot do it alone and we know we are by no means the only organisation that cares about the town. We know that caring about our town, our citizens and our communities is not just the preserve of the public sector but of every person who lives here and of every business which trades in the town.
We do business with and procure from a great many organisations; from large infrastructure works to care contracts, from multinationals to local charities. The range of the council’s responsibilities is vast and the range of what we buy and whom we buy from reflects this. The council spends on average more than £200 million annually on works, goods and services, using a range of over 1,000 different suppliers.
We want Blackpool to get the most out of this activity; and is why social value holds a 20% weighting on our contracts; therefore, it is essential for any supplier considering working with us—that you understand what is important to Blackpool, and the information provided in this guide is closely studied.
Social value means essentially ensuring we get the absolute maximum value from every contract – that is, not just the supplies or services specified under that contract, but the additional gain we can secure on behalf of the town and its citizens. We appreciate that this is a big challenge, especially when margins are tight. That is why we have produced this guide to show how it is possible to add that extra value.
Above all, we want to make sure that we can secure this social value and that it is directed in the right way to help the most people and have the largest impact. This guide along with our social value policy and suppliers charter sets out how we intend to do this, what we (the town, not the council) needs most and how you, as a supplier to the council, can provide it.
We hope that this guide is clear and helpful. We hope that this new and flexible approach to procuring services can support a relationship between all those with a personal or professional attachment to Blackpool to work together to continually improve our town
Leader of Blackpool Council
Cllr Lynn Williams
Introduction
As a public body Blackpool Council has a legal obligation under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 to consider the social good that can be derived from the procurement of services.
The principle of social value aligns with the council’s values, which inform the way we make decisions, the way we
work, and the way we develop and provide services to the people of Blackpool ensuring that:
- We are accountable for delivering on the promises we make and take responsibility for our actions and the outcomes achieved
- We are committed to being fair to people and to treating everyone we meet with dignity and respect
- We take pride in delivering quality services that are community focussed and are based on listening carefully to what people need
- We act with integrity and we are trustworthy in all our dealings with people and we are open about the decisions we make and the services we offer
- We are compassionate, caring, hard-working and committed to delivering the best services that we can with a positive and collaborative attitude
Defining social value
Social value is defined in the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 as;
“The benefit to the community from a commissioning/procurement process over and above the direct purchasing of goods, services and outcomes.”
Social value is ‘a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis in terms of generating benefits to society and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment’.
Sustainable procurement force (2006)
‘Thinking social value’ considers how resources are used, it should shift the focus from the bottom-line price or cost of a service towards the overall collective benefit to a community. It is no longer simply about what is being delivered, how a service is delivered must also be taken into account.
Social value asks the question ‘if £1 is spent on delivering a service, can that same £1 also be used to gain wider community benefit?’
Blackpool faces many difficult issues and we need to focus on the things that matter – improving tourism and the job opportunities for everyone in the town, and creating stronger and safer communities. The 2019 to 2024 Council Plan is our response to this picture. It’s our way of telling the story of our town so that everyone – residents, organisations and visitors – understands what we’re doing, who we’re doing it with, and why we’re doing it.
Our vision for Blackpool is that we will…
"Retain our position as the UK's number one family resort, with a thriving economy that supports a happy and healthy community who are proud of this unique town"
In order to do this, we will work with the public, private and third sectors, locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, to achieve this.
To properly engrain and implement a social value ethos into our way of working it is important to consider what things would benefit the community at a local level.
For example, in some areas of the country more youth employment opportunities may be a high priority, whereas elsewhere reducing social isolation may be a key driver.
The benefits of social value could be social, economic and environmental.
Getting the most out of the public purse is a high priority for everyone, so the procuring process needs to assess much more than just the price of each contract. We need to look at the overall benefit to our communities when choosing to award a contract; and upon award, this will be closely monitored and reported on.
Social value within procurement provides additional benefits generated by a service beyond its primary purpose. Additional social value improves the lives of people, for instance, through securing employment and training benefits for local residents; improving emotional and physical health and wellbeing of local residents; reducing carbon emissions or pollution levels and supporting community groups and projects as part of a procurement process.
The suppliers charter sets out 6 key principles which seek to embed the duty of the Public Services (Social Value) Act alongside the council’s aspiration to ensure all of its partners and suppliers adopt corporate social and ethically responsible policy and practice.
- Local employment
- Local supply chains
- Good employer
- Green and sustainable
- Best practice processes
- Supporting our communities
How can you help
In order to deliver social value objectives, suppliers can think about how the services they provide can help to contribute towards wider community benefit…..it is not always just about delivering a service the way it has always been delivered!
Suppliers can contribute to the delivery of social benefits to bring long-term good to the borough in many ways. A key part of social value that is important to understand is that its delivery should not have an additional cost associated with it.
Every organisation we do business with has finances, skills, assets and time that could be used to deliver social value. So, think about the social value you could offer Blackpool, for example…
- Finances - Pay your staff the living wage and provide fair working conditions, and where possible re-invest into the local economy and provide local jobs
- Skills - There are skills across your organisation that could be effectively applied to help us address town-wide skills shortages; from back office skills like IT or accounting to the more obvious skill that we are procuring from you
- Assetts - There are assets you may have, from meeting rooms that could be used free by community groups; to recycling and reusing ICT equipment or other surplus materials that could be used by people, communities and organisations
- Time - Your organisation may already have a corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme or community-volunteering scheme
Some of our delivery partners
To deliver social value in Blackpool, we ask that you work, where appropriate, with our nominated delivery partners, the following examples provided are not a full comprehensive list; though have established networks in place,
and demonstrated the ability to work with businesses and link them up with community organisations, charities, schools/colleges and those in need of training and employment opportunities.
They will help you ensure that appropriate administrative processes (for example: insurance, DBS checks, training, risk assessments, due diligence on local organisations) are in place and will help us monitor the delivery of your contractual commitments.
The delivery partners will prioritise those most in need and consider the best matching recipient for the social value you are offering.
Positive steps into work team
Contact the Positive Steps into Work team on 01253 477300 or email
Email: positivesteps.intowork@blackpool.gov.uk
Web: www.blackpoolunlimited.com
Positive steps provides intensive support with recruitment and skills needs to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and larger employers in the town and county. They help employers understand the current labour market and by mutual discussion develop a bespoke skills and recruitment plan. The team has local expertise and connections to support businesses with ambitions to deliver social value in meeting their recruitment objectives.
Calico shared apprenticeship service
Contact the Calico team on 01282 686300
Email: contact@calico.org.uk
Web: calico.org.uk
The shared apprenticeship service is an innovative collaboration between CITB and regional partners. It has been established in response to industry demand as a way of providing construction contractors with an opportunity to enjoy all the benefits of an apprentice without the direct employment responsibility as the shared apprenticeship service takes this up.
Blackpool Build Up
Contact the Build Up team on 01253 352352
Email: info@blackpool.ac.uk
Web: Build Up with B&FC
If you are long-term unemployed and looking for a job in construction, Build Up is here to help. We work with Job Centre Plus, Blackpool Council and local construction firms to help get you back into employment.
INSPIRA
Contact the team on 0345 658 8647
Web: inspira.org.uk
We partner with and work on behalf of many organisations across the North West to manage and deliver comprehensive programmes which produce results. Our programmes enable people to get back into work, shore up skills shortages, prepare young people for life after school and connect educational institutions with business to drive careers guidance from those in the know.
Blackpool FC Community Trust
Telephone: 01253 348691
Bloomfield Road Stadium, Seasiders Way, Blackpool, FY1 6JJ
Email: info@bfcct.co.uk
Web: www.bfcct.co.uk
Blackpool FC Community Trust is a forward-thinking charity, based at Bloomfield Road Stadium. We use the brand and assets of the football club, community trust, and football to work with residents as young as 2 years old up to adults in the later stages of life and provide a diverse range of programmes to increase social inclusion opportunities; improve physical fitness, health and education; and lessen involvement in anti-social behaviour.
To achieve these outcomes, we provide support and opportunities across four themes:
- Community programmes
- Education
- Employability
- Early years and primary
Blackpool Food Bank
Contact the team on 01253 358842
Email: info@blackpoolfoodbank.co.uk
Web: www.blackpoolfoodbank.co.uk
Blackpool Food Bank are coordinating a service for the homeless as well as the usual service for wider foodsupport to our network partners.
We work together with agencies across Blackpool to provide emergency food parcels for people in need. We are not a front line service but provide aid to front-line services who have already assessed the needs of each client via the discretionary support service and other partners in the network. Following on from the assessment, we can provide a three-day food parcel consisting of three meals per day to families and individuals.
Health & Social Care Career Academy
Contact the team on 01253 504343
Web: www.hscacademy.org.uk
The Health & Social Care Career Academy is intended as a much-needed cross-sector platform and focal point for activity, a support for all those driving it, and a space for the more radical and emergent ideas to grow and evolve. It exists to support the vision for the Fylde coast health and care sector which is: to create new models of care, wrapped around the local population and spanning across health and social care, to improve jointly the health and wellbeing of the Fylde coast population.
Blackpool Coastal Housing
Contact the team 01253 477900
Email: enquiries@bch.co.uk
Web: Blackpool www.bch.co.uk
Blackpool Coastal Housing Coastal House, 17-19 Abingdon Street, Blackpool, FY1 1DG
BCH are responsible for managing almost 5000 properties on Blackpool Council’s behalf. Blackpool Coastal Housing (BCH) is a wholly owned company set up by the council to manage its social housing stock and provide related services to its tenant and leasehold customers.
- BCH provides the MPT service supporting people into work with training/volunteering/educational/ employment opportunities
- BCH also provides care leaver services supporting young people into housing, training and educational opportunities. This is called positive transitions
- BCH provides support to homeless young people (16 to 18 year olds) in our hostels, and we help them longer term through our positive transitions service above
- BCH have an activities coordinator which is attached to Care and Repair and provides support tosupport older, isolated adults across all tenures of housing in Blackpool
- BCH actively work with communities to improve health, social and environmental priorities that face our town
URPotential
Website: www.urpotential.co.uk
Socials: @urpotentialuk
Office number: 01253 344398
URPotential is a not for profit, community interest company based in Blackpool, but cover all of the Fylde coast. We have four areas of work:
- Volunteering
- Training
- Youth and community work
- Research and consultancy
We support a wide range of people and organisations, from ages 10 up to 110! We provide support and opportunities, including community groups, volunteering, training, employment, social action projects and wellbeing support. Whether you are an organisation or individual, you will be surprised at just how we can help you achieve your potential!
We have specific workers for different projects so get in touch to see who is the best person/project to suit.
Groundwork
Web: www.groundwork.org.uk/hubs/northwest/
Cheshire Lancashire and Merseyside, 74-80 Hallgate, Wigan, WN1 1HP.
Telephone: 01942 821 444
Email: clm@groundwork.org.uk
Groundwork is both a charitable trust and a social enterprise that has been working to build more sustainable communities since 1985. We do this by helping people and organisations to create better neighbourhoods, to build their skills and job prospects, and to live and work in a greener way.
Our vision is of a society of sustainable communities that are vibrant, healthy and safe, which respect the localand global environmental and where individual and enterprises prosper. We aim to:
- Improve people’s prospects by increasing the confidence, skills, well-being and employability of those furthest removed from, in particular young people
- Create better places by helping people work together to make their surroundings greener, safer and healthier and get involved in the way decisions are made
- Promote greener living and working by helping people learn more about their environmental impact and act responsibly to reduce natural resource use
Empowerment Charity
Web: empowermentcharity.org.uk/Lancashire
Registered charity number: 1155897
The Empowerment Base, 333 Bispham Road, Bispham, Blackpool, FY2 0HH
Telephone: 0300 32 32 100 (local rate call)
Email: admin@empowermentcharity.org.uk
Empowerment provide a range of services to empower you.
A Blackpool based charity committed to empowering you to have your voice heard. We are proud of the fact that we make everyone welcome no matter who you are and your background.
ESS service
A service that has a creative and innovative response to people who are high intensity users of the accident and emergency department at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Delivered by a service manager and a team of volunteers with lived experience and referrals are received by North West Ambulance Service,
BESS also runs weekly activities as well as helping those who are digitally excluded become tech savvy and rejoin online conversations in the current climate.
Blackpool advocacy service
The statutory service we offer are
- Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA)/Independent Mental Capacity Advocacy (IMCA)
- Independent Care Act Advocacy (ICAA)/NHS Health Complaints Advocacy/Relevant Person Representative Advocacy (RPR)
Children and Young People’s Advocacy
Works with CYP when children’s social care is involved in their life
Blackpool Lived Experience team (also part of Project Adder)
We are a team from Empowerment working with Blackpool Fulfilling Lives to create positive change in Blackpool. We are looking for people withlived experience of two or more of the following issues; homelessness, mental health, offending and substance misuse to volunteer to become members of our lived experience team.
Healthwatch Blackpool
Healthwatch Blackpool is the independent public voice for health and social care in our area.
Motivate2 Project
A volunteer advocacy project that is empowering people with personal experience of mental health and/or complex needs and giving them the opportunity to use their knowledge to advocate for other people accessing the advocacy services.
The Den
The children’s IDVA service offers specialist emotional and practical support to children and young people affected by domestic abuse.
The Fylde Coast Responsible Business Network
If you’d like to know more about the Responsible Business Network,please contact Michelle Walker.
Email: Michelle.walker@bitc.org.uk
Mobile: 07734 495212Email:
Laura.James@bitc.org.uk
Mobile: 07955 299487
The Fylde Coast Responsible Business Network is a coalition of businesses committed to supporting their local community. The network has been created, and is supported, by the Blackpool Pride of Place Partnership, which is a flagship initiative of Business in the Community – HRH The Prince of Wales’ Responsible Business Network.
Our mission: We aim to build a network of responsible businesses along the Fylde coast who will:
- Be the best they can be in delivering social, environmental and economic sustainability across all areas of their business
- Join with other businesses to bring together their collective strength and be a force for good in thelocal community
The current priority areas of the Fylde Coast Responsible Business Network are:
- Helping school children prepare for the world of work
- and helping long-term unemployed people back into work
Who can be involved? The Responsible Business Network is free to join and is open to any business who wants to contribute to the local community, whether that’s social, environmental or economic. It can range from a few hours volunteering- to taking on an apprentice- to mentoring start-up businesses. The type of contribution is up to you.
Furniture Matters
Web: www.Furniturematters.co.uk
Tel: 01254 26622
Email: office@furniturematters.org.uk
Furniture Matters’ goal is to help lower income homeowners and renters buy affordable essentials: with furniture and white goods to help them set up in their home. This particularly benefits those who may otherwise struggle, thinking their only option is to turn to the trap of high interest loans or weekly payment stores. Our collection and clearance services impact the local environment by giving new life to items which may otherwise end up in landfill or simply dumped.
FYi Directory
Web: www.fyidirectory.co.uk
The FYI Directory is administered by Blackpool Council and funded by a partnership between Blackpool Council and Fylde Coast Clinical Commissioning Groups.
The FYI Directory is an information resource for people and professionals across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre. It brings together information about a wide range of local health and council services, community clubs, social groups, wellbeing activities and events into one comprehensive source. It also includes Blackpool’s local offer for children and young people with special education needs or disabilities.
Purchasing and sponsorship
Many local community organisations often operate trading services – for example, room or conference hire or catering. Using these trading services is a sustainable, viable way of supporting this network.
There are facilities and charities that would welcome your sponsorship of a programme or facility- everything from a farm park to a training programme might offer mutual benefit of income and publicity. Blackpool Council would be happy to broker any such interest.
In kind support and donations – Resources and materials
Charities often find it hard to secure funding for buildings or equipment due to public funding restrictions. If your organisation has excess materials or furniture/equipment, such as ICT hardware, itno longer requires, this could be used to support local community groups/projects. There may also be a valuable contribution in allowing some of theseorganisations the opportunity to use your facilities or equipment and expertise in other ways (for example, making your meeting rooms/vehicles available to them when you don’t need them, using spare capacity within your facilities management team to carryout small repairs or auditing/inspecting a charity’saccounts).
Key challenges
- Employment
- Children and young people
- Health
- The climate emergency and Blackpool's environment
- Local economy
- Adults
- Communities
- Covid recovery
Employment
What Blackpool needs
Blackpool needs good jobs, with fair pay and safe and considerate working conditions. We want to support an economy that provides high skilled, well-paid secure work that enables people in Blackpool to enjoy both their work and their life outside work.
How you can help
As one of the towns major contributors to the economy, we at the council want to ensure that our budgets are used to support people into great jobs. Our priority, is to strive for those employed in Blackpool and particularly everyone employed a result of our spending, to enjoy the following working conditions. Therefore, we ask you to consider and address the following principles of good employment practice:
Every job should be a good job. For, us that means workers in our town should:
- Be paid fairly
- Work in a safe and healthy workplace
- Be treated decently and with respect
- Have regular hours
- Have the chance to be represented by unions and be consulted on what matters at work
- Have the chance to learn and progress atwork and get on in life
Case study: Volunteering helps Abigail secure a route into mental health support
Abigail’s dream was to find work in the mental health sector, working in a support role. She had a lot of experience in similar sectors and had been working as a Volunteer for the NHS and had previous experience working as a PCSO and care worker.
To help her explore training options to work in this field, Abigail contacted Inspira who deliver the national careers service her area. Abigail felt that upskilling and building confidence in her chosen area would be the best progression route in the mental health sector.
Abigail and her adviser explored possible training options ultimately deciding on an online option via a local college as it would fit into her existingcommitments as her mum’s carer. To prepare Abigail and to get her into the best position for success, Tracey, the Inspira adviser supported Abigail with updating her CV. Using the relevant job profile on the national careers service website, Abigail and Tracey concentrated on the required skills and knowledge by exploring Abigail’s transferable skills, and including those in the newly revamped CV.
Abigail said
“Since being contacted by Tracey from National Careers Service, my prospects have improved. Tracey listened and advised on many different courses which I may be interested in. I have now started my chosen course online and I’m very happy with all the support I have received, from NCS and the college.”
Chance2Shine - work placement programme
How can we help your business?
- By providing a spare pair of hands during busyperiods
- By finding you the right people for your business (we have people waiting for opportunities)
- By supporting you and the participant duringthe placement
How does the scheme help local people?
- Chance2shine provides a range of structured work placements for unemployed people with local employers to enable them togain valuable new skills and rebuild their confidence to get them back on the road to full-time employment
- Placements are part-time to enable the participants to continue to look foremployment and they only last 4 weeks to ensure they move on into work after their placement and don’t get ‘stuck’ in volunteering
- If participants do a good job in their work placement we ask employers to commit to being a referee for them for future job applications as this is something reallyvaluable that they will need to get paid work
- We pay for daily travel costs for placements and any work equipment or uniform that participants need to keep the costs as low as possible for people claiming benefits and we’ll also pay for a DBS check if needed
Case studies
Furniture Matters – work placements - Calico Group
Happy to support employment initiative- LancashireBusiness View
Get in touch
Positive Steps Into Work
Telephone: 01253 477300
Email: positivesteps.intowork@blackpool.gov.uk
The Platform
Blackpools employment youth hub
Contact the The Platform team on 01253 477775
SMS/Mobile/Whatsapp: 07342 056 448
Email: theplatform@blackpool.gov.uk
Web: www.blackpool.gov.uk/theplatform
The Platform is a new facility that supports young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are currently unemployed and seeking work to find their place in the job market or access training and courses to find a way back into work.
The Platform service is open to Blackpool residents without a job, who have been actively seeking work in the past four weeks and are available to start work or training in the next two weeks (although could be up to 6 months from the labour market). The Platform offers up to 6 months support from a dedicated employment advisor, followed by up to 6 months in work/training support once they have been successful.
This is a physical space, located in the town centre, where young people can call in to make an appointment to see an employment adviser and receive one-to-one support on their journey to sustained long-term employment. Some young people will also be able to meet with their DWP youth work coach in the centre as we have two co-located staff in the new hub. The service will help young people to develop their skills, improve their employment chances and will specifically target youth unemployment in the town.
The service brings together support from a range of local partners, including JobcentrePlus, The Princes Trust, Groundwork, Blackpool FC Community Trust, Blackpool and the Fylde College and Blackpool Council’s in-house services. These partners will provide training and employment support, with the long-term goal of reducing the number of young people not in education, employment or training in the town. Working with employers, FE and training providers, The Platform will become the ‘go to’ place to recruit young people onto courses and into jobs. The Platform is building relations across the town with employers and providers linking them with potential new recruits but also listening to and acting on their recruitment and skills needs.
We also have a dedicated member of staff who works with care leavers. Linda.Aiken@blackpool.gov.uk
Social care
Blackpool’s economy also needs a care sector that is suitably valued and skilled, and to move away from employment practices which stretch the sustainability of the sector. Our contracts for services, such as domiciliary care already require employers to pay their staff travel time and the use of zero-hour contracts are only acceptable if they provide flexibility to the workforce.
Training and development of staff is also a key priority to ensure that standards of care are maintained, and the council provides free training to support the sector. We want to promote the care sector as a dynamic, inclusive and accessible career choice for the town’s young people and would encourage potential care providers to consider the options for social value set out below.
Carer friendly workplace
With an estimated 6.5 million working carers in England and Wales, a growing number of people are playing a dual role in balancing their jobs with their caring responsibilities. This came into sharp focus in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted working lives, exposing the support needs of those who require constant care. It has been estimated that COVID will have created a possible 4.5 million additional carers (Carers UK).
Caring is an important part of being human. Carers keep families together, support friends and family to have a better quality of life, contribute immeasurably to society, and save the economy a substantial amount of money (estimated at £132 billion per year). While caring can be extremely rewarding, it can also be stressful and isolating if carers do not get the support they need. Many can feel stretched physically, psychologically and financially, juggling work, care and family commitments.
The benefits of looking after carers in the workforce cannot be underestimated. By retaining skilled, loyal and knowledgeable staff, the organisation reduces its recruitment costs and offering flexible working, reduces sick leave and retains productivity, giving the employee peace of mind and increasing well-being.
Blackpool Council is committed to supporting working carers by addressing, providing support and by raising awareness of informal carers both internally and externally. Support can be offered through several channels including:
- Policy and guidance including flexible workingand leave policies
- Practical support such as allowing mobiles at desks, closer car parking in case of emergencies
- Peer support including encouraging staff well- being groups and support sessions
- Promoting support through positive links with carer organisations, occupational health teams and other professionals
- HR guidance is available to help your business support your staff with caring responsibilities. From a business perspective, showing support for working carers is likely to enhance your reputation in the eyes of all employees as well as your customers and clients. It will help you to attract and, importantly, retain staff, andis likely to reduce stress and sickness levels and costs. Additionally, as research shows, working carers who feel supported by their organisation are less likely to find it difficult to concentrate at work and are less likely to be considering reducing their hours or quitting their jobs
CIPD carer frindly workplace guidance
As employers, we need to provide the best support we can offer to our employees, particularly if they are experiencing challenges outside of work that impact their wellbeing in the workplace. This should be reflected wherever possible in the values and culture of all our organisations.
The local economy
What Blackpool needs
We want our budgets to fund the employment of Blackpool residents and are spent with Blackpool businesses (both directly and through our contractors supply chains) as much as possible. We want to support the town’s small, medium and large enterprises, including organisations in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector, which will further support local employment. We recognise that trading with companies and employment of residents in the county will also have a positive impact on our town due to the travel-to- work links between the town and major cities.
Coupled with our expectations on working conditions, and particularly the Living Wage, this will ensure that local people working to deliver our services will benefit and this money will be recycled in the local economy.
How you can help
Local suppliers
Whether you are, a Blackpool based company or not, we strongly encourage you to consider how you can work with companies in Blackpool to support your delivery and become part of your supply chain. Having a Blackpool and Fylde based supply chain will help you link into the local community and enhance your local knowledge. It will help us support local business and local employment. Voluntary and community sector groups and organisations could also form part of your supply chain—please see the communities’ section below.
Local employment
We strongly encourage you to work with our employment team at Positive Steps into Work, to offer opportunities to local people. The team work with a number of delivery partners to offer advice on apprenticeship and training schemes and can advise you if funding may be available to support you when you create these opportunities.
Case study Chance to Shine
April was referred into Chance2Shine (our voluntary work placement programme for long term unemployed) by her Journey to work employment adviser. April wanted to gain some retail work experience; having never worked since leaving school and starting a family. She started her Chance2Shine work placement at the St Anne’s Sainsbury’s store- and proved to herself and the management team that she had the right qualities to become a paid colleague.
She has now grown from strength to strength; being fast tracked onto a Sainsbury’s management course; and is a proud, full time member of staff.
Children and young people
What Blackpool needs
For Blackpool to be more competitive and to continue to attract inward investment, we need to have more people suitably skilled in certain areas such as:
- Construction
- Green growth
- Engineering
- ICT
- Social care
Blackpool has children and young people who sometimes– because of circumstance, geography or background– do not secure access to high quality education, training and employment opportunities and would greatly benefit from your support.
How you can help
We want our providers to join us to:
- Make the vast variety of opportunities available to children and young people seem real and tangible
- Share the benefit of your experience andskills to address the skills gap
- Inspire young people to do well at school/ college and create a link between what they learn in the classroom and the world of work
- Provide work placements, internships, apprenticeships and jobs
- Help improve literacy across the town
- Improve environmental knowledge and awareness- so they can help look after their town and planet
We have identified a range of different ways and levels at which you can get involved and make a difference.
Support to children and young people in preparingfor work whilst at school or college
The ‘Blackpool Careers Journey’ has been developed– a partnership offer of careers interventions for all children and young people. Listed below are some of the ways we are looking for employers to contribute to the Blackpool Careers Journey.
- Provide meaningful encounters with young people which helps schools and collegesto ensure their students receive a high quality careers programme as measured by the Gatsby Benchmarks for Good Careers Guidance. See link “Careers in Context Employer Guide” for full detail
Key examples :
- Volunteer to visit a school at an assembly or other curriculum opportunities
- Offer a school the chance to visit your workplace. Give insight and provide examples of the different types of jobs available and how to reach that position
- Mock interview exercises
- Support literacy/numeracy schemes by going into schools and colleges to enrich the learning experience. Support literacy scheme and programmes, providing innovative approaches.
- Work experience placements; and provide virtual work experience insights through the ‘Start in Lancashire’ website
- The key forum on the Fylde coast, which supports employers to provide careers opportunities for young people, is the Responsible Business Network. We would encourage every employer to become a member of this network and seek their on the latest projects employers can support. Contact details of the RBN is within the delivery partners section
Some of our delivery partners already have links with schools and established processes to facilitate such events and we ask that you offer this kind of social value through these intermediaries to ensure the right children/organisations benefit, the proper processes are followed and that we can record evidence of delivery.
It can be difficult, especially for smaller organisations, to provide structured career opportunities, but your organisation may have a volunteering or corporate social responsibility project where an individual might wish to volunteer to offer mentoring support to a child or young person. These relationships can be pivotal in helping a child or young person build their confidence and understand better what is possible.
Work experience
Many year 10 children (14 to 15 year olds) look foran opportunity to gain one or two weeks work experience. Not all do and some schools struggle to place every child. Your social value could be to provide such opportunities within your organisation. This may be frontline customer facing roles, but could alsobe in a back office function, such as IT, logistics or administration.
We also would like you to consider giving our NEETS (Not in education employment and training) and long term unemployed an opportunity to gain some valuable work experience to help inspire them and embrace new opportunities.
Blackpool 30 reading challenge
Families in Blackpool are invited to take part in a reading challenge to read for 30 minutes a day for pleasure.
We want to see more residents reading. Whether that is their local newspaper or an online review of a film they are wanting to watch.
We want to encourage more of it which is why wehave introduced a 30 minute reading challenge.
The Blackpool 30 reading challenge is for everyone regardless of age. The main message is that reading is fun and good for your wellbeing.
A popular statistic is that 30 minutes of reading a day can increase levels of literacy so we want to see children and adults form a regular reading habit.
The reading challenge is open to all:
- • Residents
- • Businesses
- • Employers
- • Employees
It aims to build a positive reading culture throughreading for pleasure.
Make it your mission to share the message that reading is fun and that reading with a child is an important part of parenting!
Share your journey by taking a picture of what you’re reading and upload it to social media using the hashtag #Blackpool30
Reasons for joining the reading challenge
Reading has many benefits from improving mental health and wellbeing to helping children boost their confidence and connect with their emotions.
Reading is a passport to the world. It helps people to enjoy learning and improve their general knowledge and it also improves their career prospects and life chances.
Books to read
Anything goes!
You can choose any book of your choice, or pick upanything from a magazine, newspaper or online article.
Accessing books
Blackpool has 8 libraries, which provide free access to a wide range of books for all ages with computers and free WiFi. There’s also 24-hour access toonline services, including e-books, e-audiobooks,e-magazines and newspapers.
Support
We rely on the generous support of local individuals, communities and businesses to continue the work of get Blackpool reading.
There are lots of ways you can help support our work, from volunteering as a Literacy Champion to running a fundraising event.
We have a gold award winning voluntary work placement programme called—Chance2Shine— where we work with businesses to provide structured work placements. This is a voluntary opportunity for our residents and young people who want to prove themselves in their chosen area of work and gain experience, skills, and work opportunities.
Apprenticeships, internships and training
For our larger contracts, there may be opportunities to generate long-term social value. We would expect to see evidence of how our suppliers will develop apprenticeship opportunities for young people in Blackpool and for them to become part of your workforce delivering services under the contract. Our delivery partner Calico will be happy to discuss the Shared Apprenticeship scheme with you and how it works in practice.
Supporting disadvantaged children and young people
As well as general opportunities for young people, there are particular groups of disadvantaged children and young people in the town who may need greater support. In some cases, they may require a particularly nurturing and supportive approach in the right environment to benefit from the opportunity. Helping these young people can be particularly rewarding for organisations and employees involved.
Case study: Links sign & Graphics
A Blackpool sign maker has pledged support to its local children’s hospice by promoting its services on one of its vans.
Links Signs and Graphics make a donation to Brian House Children’s Hospice for every new customer that comes in as a result of its new advertising.
Looked after children
We are working hard to support our young people who are in care, and those who are care leavers and require support to age 25. It’s not hard to understand the needs and requirements a young person has when going out into the big wide world for the first time as an independent young adult. From home starter kits to help with understanding finance- it’s quite scary when you have no parent to guide or support you.
We encourage you to consider our 5 key outcomes, andthink about how your organisation can support.
- Independent living
- Education, employment and training
- Safety and security
- Mental and physical health
- Finance
For employment-related offers, you could start bysigning the care leaver friendly employer charter.
Educational and employment outcomes for our looked after children are important, and as their corporate parent, our aim is to provide them with support outside of mainstream education. We would like to extend this further into our commissioning arrangements. We have programmes and schemes which you could utilise to help us educate our looked after children; to help improve their future prospects.
For more inspiration: Companies and charities- care leaver covenant
Children with special educational needs
Educational and employment outcomes for children with special educational needs is an area of opportunity which is not only rewarding but would provide much needed respite for full-time parents and carers and potential life- changing experiences for these young people. This would include children with long-term disabilities or conditions such as autism.
Supporting people with disabilities
DFN Project Search
Blackpool Council is a supported internship programme for young adults with learning difficulties. The interns’ goal is to gain vital employment skills within work placements where they are able to develop confidence and independence. With the support of job coaches, interns have been able to showcase their capabilities and skills, which has led to the success of employment for many.
Liam’s story
Liam – Project Search graduate of 2020. During first lockdown, Liam secured employment with support from Project Search. He worked every week through the pandemic keeping the hospital grounds clean.
In January 2021 he was nominated by the NHS Trust for going above and beyond when dealing with an emergency. The trust say; “he is a credit to this trust and should be proud of himself.”
If any employer wishes to be a part of our intern’sjourney and training please contact
Email: Project.search@blackpool.gov.uk
Telephone: 01253 477878
Mobile: 07387 250 087
Project Search, Blackpool Council, Number One, Bickerstaffe Square, Talbot Road, Blackpool FY1 3AH
Blackpool Centre for Independent Living
The Blackpool Centre for Independent Living supports the local disabled communities of Blackpool with a fully accessible centre, information and signposting service.
The centre is open to
- • Anyone with a disability
- • Their friends and family
We offer a warm welcome so please come and have alook around.
We can signpost you to information on:
• Clubs, groups and activities
• Specialist services
• Finance/employment advice Blackpool Centre for Independent Living
Support
- Skill share - work with our service users- wehave a wood working group and green team who would like to benefit from your expertise. They help to make Blackpool a better place by volunteering in our communities making it a green and pleasant place to live and work
- Donate materials - we don’t want anything to go to landfill not if it’s got a future life. Bark chippings, wood, tools etc… the team will be able to turn it into something beautiful
Good news story
Graham Construction came to the rescue of our Langdale Green Team wood working shopafter hearing their tools were stolen at the beginning of the pandemic.
They kindly replaced all of the stolen tools, which has now given the wood working volunteers everything they need to make a huge difference in the community – making garden planters, habitat boxes and much more. Workingclosely with schools, businesses, they have a new lease of life.
This has opened up opportunities to work on other exciting regeneration projects across the town, such as our Enterprise Zone, Blackpool Airport- where the volunteers will be helping the team meet their biodiversity requirements by creating habitat boxes to encourage small mammals, and bug and bee hotels.
Cllr Jo Farrell, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health said,
“This wonderful donation from GRAHAM will help the Blackpool Centre for Independent Living team in so many ways. This is an absolutely fantastic example of Blackpool Council’s pledge to social value, working partnership with the private sector to ensure greater benefits for our communities.”
Contact
Email: bcil@blackpool.gov.uk
Telephone: 01253 476880
Adults
What Blackpool needs
Some of Blackpool’s adult population are often excluded from social contact, exercise and recreation, and employment and training opportunities. Blackpool Council and our partners in the voluntary and community sector groups and organisations support these adults but they could benefit from further help via skills, knowledge, assets and potential volunteering time and employment opportunities within your organisation. They can also add value back into your organisation. These vulnerable groups are broadly defined below.
- Adults with long-term mental health needs, learning disabilities, autism and/or physical health conditions are often independent enough not to require long-term care but they may find it difficult to access alternative support or work thereby leading to social and economic isolation
- Long-term unemployed people and those in need of reskilling
- Elderly and socially isolated – older people are more likely to be managing long-term health conditions and prone to being socially isolated. Supporting and helping those living with dementia and their carers is a priority and we are committed to make Blackpool a dementia friendly town
- Recent arrivals in the UK – in many circumstances these people are fleeing incredibly traumatic and difficult situations and require the right kind of support to start a new life in a new country with confidence
- Those who have recently left the criminal justice system face a difficult challenge securing housing, work and re-establishing important relationships
- Those who are recovering from drug or alcohol addiction and have problems with substance misuse often suffer from complexcircumstances and multiple issues such as poor mental health, which can lead to other long- term issues such as rough sleeping
How you can help
Your budgets, skills and assets could support those individuals and the organisations that help them, through for example, visits to libraries and cultural activities, colleges or other suitable settings, or your staff could volunteer to support people to develop their digital and English language skills and confidence.
You may be able to offer structured mentoring and training opportunities for individuals. You could explore how to remove barriers to employment opportunities for vulnerable adults with mental health needs ora learning disability. An opportunity for being in paid employment could support their wellbeing and independence.
Work trials, internships and placements, targeted training and development opportunities could all be options. Information about the positive actionprovisions under the Equality Act 2010 will help you to decide what opportunities, support and positive action in recruitment you might be able to offer.
Health
What Blackpool needs
Everyone has a role to play in supporting peopleto make healthy lifestyle choices. Our social value approach will protect physical and mental wellbeing in Blackpool. We want employers to promote physical activity, healthy eating, smoke-free policies and a range of mental health promotion activities.
Increased levels of physical activity across the town will support general wellbeing and help us to tackle the range of health challenges facing the town, including obesity and diabetes.
How you can help
Healthy eating and physical activity
Employers can play a role in supporting and facilitating staff to be more active. Making even small changes to include active travel and physical activity as part of the normal working day can help with this: for example, staff could act as volunteer walk leaders at lunchtime or after work.
Healthy eating goes hand-in-hand with physical activity. Employers can support work within Blackpool that aims to improve choice and access to healthy options. This could be work that takes place directly within their organisation, or through working with other stakeholders, such as a foodbank or holiday hunger scheme.
Food poverty: How to seek (and give) help
From food banks to apps, organisations in the UK are providing access to food. If you’re struggling with food insecurity or alternatively, if you’re able to help others, here’s advice from the experts.
How big is the issue?
With rising energy bills and the cost of food increasing, food poverty is now a reality for many. Some are forced to choose between heating and eating, and some parents are going without food so their children can be fed.
The Food Foundation runs regular surveys in conjunction with YouGov to measure food insecurity levels. In July 2021 they found 7.3 percent of UK households had experienced food insecurity in the previous month. By January 2022, the number had increased to 8.8 percent of households – affecting approximately 4.7 million adults.
Foodbanks
Food banks are a well-known resource, gaining increasing attention on the front line of food poverty. However, there have been recent reports some are struggling to get the required level of donations. This is something Justin Wylie, Associate Director of Public Engagement at the Trussell Trust – home to more than 1,300 food banks – is concerned about. “Across our network, we’re hearing from food banks who have seen a decrease in donation levels.” It may be that fewer people are able to donate (and the Trussell Trust explain that more than 90 percent of the food donated comes from individuals), while more people need their services.
“Right now, too many families are already making impossible decisions between heating and eating, and we know that people are skipping meals, unable to afford to run cookers and fridges, and taking on debt to buy the essentials. We are deeply concerned that the cost of living crisis risks forcing many more peoplethrough the doors of food banks in the coming months, and beyond.”
However, Justin reassuringly explains: “As always, food banks in our network are committed to serving their local communities and will continue to provide everyone referred to them with emergency food and support throughout this challenging period and beyond.”
How can you support increasing food poverty?
Research from Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) shows that £19 Billion worth of food is wasted in the UK every year. This comes from a combination of manufacturers, suppliers, retailers and households. An average UK household wastes eight meals a week, and around 27,000 tonnes of food is thrown away in the central Lancashire area each year. Blackpool has 8 out the top 10 most deprived neighbourhoods in England within its boundary and in Blackpool alone, there are almost 10,000 children living below the poverty line.
The Food Pledge is a simple encouragement to all of us, at every step in the food chain, to do what we can to not only reduce the amount of waste, but to ensure that any edible surplus food ends up feeding a family in our community, rather than being wasted. We are aiming to establish a long-term sustainable cycle as this pandemic has place many more families into food poverty and sadly there is no quick fix.
- If you are a food manufacturer, supplier or retailer…How do you manage your edible surplus?
- Could your business support with regular donations to our food bank?
For those who get on board, this would come with a “Food Pledge” accreditation from Blackpool Food Bank, media coverage for your organisation as a Food Pledge partner with mention on our social media channels and charity reports.
Additional cpntact information
Email: info@blackpoolfoodbank.co.uk
Website: http://www.facebook.com/blackpoolfoodbank
Stop smoking
Ensuring that smoke-free policies are present in the organisation, and that access to the stop smoking service is available would both demonstrate commitment to improving employee health and wellbeing.
Mental Health
Mental health problems are another key health issue amongst people in Blackpool. One in four working age adults will be living with a mental health condition, and many more may be experiencing symptoms of low mood or stress without an official diagnosis. However, many people are reluctant to speak about their mental wellbeing at work due to stigmatising attitudes around mental illness.
Changing the culture of a workplace to become a safe space to discuss mental health openly would have great social value. Incorporating workplace mental health training amongst managers or adopting a ‘mental health champions’ scheme would be ways to raise awareness of mental health amongst staff. Encouraging dialogue around mental health and wellbeing at work will contribute to a culture where employees feel more valued, which in turn has a proven positive impact on productivity.
Case study: Supporting Covid-19 patients
The Health and Social Care Career Academy in Blackpool are proud of their learner who has been supporting Covid-19 patients at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.
Paul Tate (43), was referred by Blackpool Job Centre to attend the NHS sector based work academy after he expressed an interest in training to be a health care assistant. This six week course offers learners a placement at Blackpool Victoria Hospital, training at the Health and Social Care Career Academy and a guaranteed interview.
Paul who was successful at his interview with the NHS started working at the hospital as a health care assistant in March. No sooner had he started hisemployment, when the pandemic began and his ward was changed to a Covid-19 ward to support very sick patients.
The academy is so proud of Paul and his care and compassion that he has given to people in his care. Within a short time, Paul was building up relationships with his new team and establishing friendships with patients.
Paul said
“I always wanting to work as a health care assistant at the hospital. It was a job that really appealed to me and something I have always wanted to do. The pandemic has not stopped me from achieving my goal”.
Paul who has sadly seen a great deal of sadness whilst in his new job has also seen positives too and has cared for people and supported them along with his team to get people well and back home to loved ones.
Helen Cook (Health and Social Care Career Academy Manager) said
“We are so proud of Paul and his achievements. We hear that he is doing fabulously well on the ward and he has such a lovely, kind and caring manner. He has a person centered approach and if he can deal with the pandemic then he can deal with anything!”
Paul wants to continue with his studies and complete his level 2 and 3 in health and social care. He would like to train on the nurse associate course so that he can qualify as a registered nurse and continue to do what he enjoys the most – caring for people.
Social Enterprise Solutions - Supporting the NHS
Social Enterprise Solutions CIC, Enterprise Centre, Lytham Road, Blackpool FY4 1EW
Telephone: 01253 344123
Mobile: 07748660328
Web: www.socialenterprisesolutions.co.uk/
One social enterprise in Blackpool is supporting the NHS when they’re dealing with patients whose social problems are impacting on their physical and mental wellbeing.
The stresses and anxiety of having your head full of debt and money worries, unemployment, housing issues, family rows and the like can’t always be dealt with by medication – which is where Social Enterprise Solutions, based at the Enterprise Centre on Lytham Road, come in.
Communities
What Blackpool needs
Blackpool’s communities are supported not only by a dedicated voluntary and community sector, but also by the public sector. Our libraries, parks, playgrounds,charities, and children’s and community centres provide the town with an invaluable physical, social and support network. However, a lot of this network no longer receives the same level of financial support it once did from public budgets. Blackpool needs your support for this network and its communities.
How you can help
As mentioned earlier, your support for our communities does not have to relate to the core service we are purchasing from you but could come from elsewhere within your organisation.
Volunteering and expertise
We are especially keen to support our communities with volunteer hours from across the town. This could be, for example, to help a summer reading challenge at a local library or support a local foodbank. Some communities, as well as the groups and organisations that support them, struggle to recruit to senioradministrative positions such as trustee, chair, treasurer or school governor. These are vital roles and within your organisation there may be individuals who would be willing to support the town’s voluntary and community sector or schools with these skills.
Case study: Dunsop Close Housing
Michelle is middle aged, lives alone and has poor mobility- using an electric wheelchair to get around. In her own words Michelle said her life before the community centre had activities, was mundane, boring, same every day, she could only watch TV for entertainment.
Blackpool Coastal Housing introduced a breakfast club to the community centre; I met Michelle and found out that she was a fantastic baker. She asked if she and a friend could make the breakfasts.We enrolled them on a food Hygiene course, we planned a menu and costs, and we created the Dunsop Court Breakfast Club.
Michelle than asked if they could do a supper club as the attendees enjoyed coming to the breakfast club and it was so successful!
Throughout her engagement, she has gained so much confidence, and has a sense of purpose- helping her community. Moreover, with funds raised from the breakfast club, has now been able to plan a Christmas dinner and a present for attendees! Her efforts has helped the community of Dunsop Close come alive again.
The climate emergency and Blackpool's environment
What Blackpool needs
Like all seaside towns, Blackpool faces big pressures to provide the homes, jobs, facilities and transport systems that people need, while also offering a green and healthy environment with clean air, space to relax and a home for wildlife. We know that our major sources of carbon emissions in the town is caused by housing and transport, and recognise that these need to run sustainably– using resources efficiently, cutting down waste and helping tackle wider environmental problems. For these reasons, Blackpool needs to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases and air pollution it generates, making better use of clean technologies and renewable energy. We need to reduce waste, reuse or recycle more, and encourage greener and more sustainable business practicesand attitudes. We have listened to our residents, and know we need to maintain and improve our network of parks and open spaces, improving access to green spaces across the town, and maintain and nurture our proud seaside heritage and historic treasures.
How you can help
You can help us improve Blackpool’s environment and make it a more sustainable town by:
- Running your business with the environment in mind, adopting and championing sustainable and environmentally friendly policy and practice, so that you can offer us and your other customers greener goods or services. This is important to us because we want to lead by example in what we buy
- Providing practical help towards environmental improvement projects in the town, for example through volunteers, funds or help in kind.
Environmentally responsible sourcing
For relevant contracts, we will specify sustainable and environmental green standards we expect providers to meet and we will include green criteria when we evaluate tenders. We will always make any green requirements or criteria clear, and you can read our sustainable procurement guidance on our website before you tender. Any green standards or requirements will always be relevant to the type of goods, works or service we are buying. Below are some examples of what we look for
- Less emissions from any transport, delivery or collection services, or from travel by your staff when they deliver the service to usfor example, using cleaner vehicles such as electric or high Euro standards, travel by walking, cycling or public transport, or use of latest technology/ systems to cut journeys
- Using the latest innovations to help tackle everyday problems –creating a healthier, safer and cleaner town, e.g. e-cargo bikes for food delivery services, meaning we have less traffic on our roads
- Less waste, more recycling. For example, reduced, recyclable or returnable packaging– and no single-use plastics
- Sustainably sourced timber and peat-free horticultural or landscaping products
- Energy-saving and low carbon technologiesused in goods and services
Environmental improvement projects
Businesses can add considerable value to environmental improvement projects in the town, for example through staff volunteering, funding for materials or help in kind such as the loan of equipment or offering expertise. We also welcome our suppliers coming forward with their own ideas for projects.
The types of projects you could support include:
- Tree planting, nature conservation and clean-up days involving community groups
- Blackpool Climate Youth Council represented by young people aged 10 to 18 years who are concerned about the environment in and around Blackpool
- Community food growing projects
- School projects including nature or food/ wildflower growing areas, litter-picks or – if your business has environmental expertise: supporting environmental careers events, work experience opportunities or school talks
- Sustainable travel projects cycling, walking or electric vehicles promotions or events
- Environmental education and workshops to inspire change to help Blackpool meet its 2030 zero carbon target.
- Job opportunties to support sustainability and green innovation
- Circular economy innovative practices to minimise waste and encourage entreprenurial solutions
- Support the council and its partners to deliver its green and blue infrastructure strategy
Case Study: The Tree Planting Partnership
The joint project has been funded by Blackpool Coastal Housing and carried out by Blackpool Council’s Parks Service, as part of both our aims to increase canopy cover and aid in carbon offsetting, whilst meeting the needs of our local policies and contributing to the national policies.
The area for the trees was prepared on Tuesday 2 and the trees planted on Wednesday 3 March, with seven trees in total been planted, four Chestnut-leaved Oak (Quercus castaneifolia ‘Green Spire’) and three Holm Oak (Quercus ilex). The trees have created a line of trees for Munster Avenue benefitting the local wildlife and increase amenity value for the local residents and passer-by’s. As the trees are already of a semi-mature nature, they will help with providing environmental benefits in a short amount of time and once they are fully established, they will continue help further.
Covid recovery
Bounce Blackpool Back
The council is focused on building a successful recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic which has had a devastating impact on the business, tourism and hospitality sector in Blackpool. Economic recovery is a key component of the plan to ensure that Blackpool retains our position as the UK’s number one family resort, with a thriving economy that supports a happy and healthy community who are proud of this unique town.
Blackpool has a strong economic regeneration plan with major investments live or planned, offering major supplier opportunities especially in the construction and engineering sector.
A broad range of investment across the town includes:
- Blackpool Central - Inspired by the Chariot of the Gods, ‘Blackpool Central’ will feature a range of indoor attractions including the UK’s first flying theatre, a virtual reality experience, new hotels, restaurants, food market, event square, residential apartments and multi-storey parking. The development is expected to attract 600,000 additional visitors a year with a combined annual spend of £75m; create 1,000 new jobs for people living in the Blackpool area; and secure £300m private sector investment- the biggest single investment in Blackpool for more than a century
- Blackpool Airport Enterprise Zone- The Enterprise Zone, one of the largest in the UK, was established in 2016. Over its 25-year lifespan it will transform the economic structure of the Blackpool and Fylde coast business base, and position itself as a premier location in the North West. Blackpool Council, as the accountable body and the majority landowner, has allocated £28.8m over the first four years to deliver essential infrastructure to help unlock sites, kick start development and attract investment to meet increasing occupier demand. This ambitious project is expected to generate 5,000 new jobs and attract in excess of £300m private sector investment over its lifetime
- Talbot Gateway – Central Business DistrictTalbot Gateway improvements – along the main route into the Town Centre – are being delivered in phases. Phase 2 is now underway to improve transport links, with a new £23.4m tramway extension connecting directly with the train station via a new underpass,the Promenade and visitor leisure attractions. Phase 3 will seek to provide more office accommodation inthe Central Business District, enabling the creation of a Civil Service Hub (subject to government agreement) to consolidate Fylde-based civil service jobs in central Blackpool, bringing vitality and footfall in a highly sustainable location. Phase 4 will include the establishment of the Multiversity to create a new university experience that facilitates higher-level upskilling, reskilling and lifelong learning within the town centre and free up an existing college site for residential development
- Tourism and the visitor economy - Blackpool has, and will continue to invest in major projects to improve and strengthen the Town’s established reputation and profile as one of the most important visitor destinations in the Country. Recent projects include the new £26m conference centre at the Winter Gardens, expanding its capacity by an additional 2,000 delegates to 7,000. Creating demand for a range of complementary hotel projects such as the Hampton by Hilton, the Boulevard Hotel, the 5-star Sands Resort Hotel(to include Blackpool’s Showtown museum), the 4-star Holiday Inn and the recent completion of the Premier Inn on Talbot Square. This increased capacity will help strengthen the quality of the tourism offer and attract additional expenditure, driving sustainable jobs within the sector.
The council, working with strategic partners such as the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership and government is able to draw upon external public funds to enable many capital projects to come to fruition. Equally important are employment and skills initiatives to improve learning and improve employments prospects – further detailed in our suppliers guide. How you can help
Your support to help keep our local heritage, tourism and inspiring new projects listed above alive. To bring expertise, donations, and inspiration into our wealth of local offers.
From our historical Grand Theatre, our iconic jewels in the crown such as the Tower, Winter Gardens, Stanley Park —right through to new environmental afforestation green projects—we would like you to see how you could contribute to these wonders of Blackpool.You will be part of improving and growing our local services—making our town an even more interesting, engaging and inclusive seaside town.
Social value tender proposals
You are likely to have received this guide as part of a package of tender documents. The invitation to tender, and the specification and conditions of contract will make clear what our minimumrequirements in terms of social value are. We may also have asked you to complete method statements to state how you will deliver this social value and seek your proposals for additional social value you will create as part of the contract.
We recognise that some contracts have more potential than others to deliver social value and we will ensure our demands are as relevant as possible to the contract and proportionate to the scale of the contract. In doing this, we do not want to add significant cost to contracts given the financial constraints the council (and all other public-sector organisations) are currently working within.
When responding to our questions, we want you to be as innovative and ambitious as possible. Please try to consider and maximise the impact your social value will have on the town – we will consider this when evaluating your tender:
Please look at your own organisation and what it has to offer the community and the town. Please make firm social value commitments as part of your tender submission, alongside the core goods or services the contract is for. We will monitor your delivery of the commitments you make. Social Value questions make up 20% of the overall score for evaluating tenders– please make sure that you give full consideration to how you can help the Council deliver social, community and environmental benefits across the borough in your tender submission. It will make a difference and could result in winning rather than losing out to other bidders.
All businesses and organisations trading in and around the town can deliver social value as part of their everyday activity – you don’t have to do this as part of a council contract. Working with the town and community around you is the right thing to do.
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