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Introduction
Blackpool Council is a major purchaser of goods and services within the local economy and seeks to act as a role model of good purchasing practice. Suppliers play a critical role in the delivery of public services and we want to make sure there is a clear understanding of the council's needs.
This document sets out what we expect suppliers to adhere to when bidding for and delivering contracts for goods, works and services.
Our aim is to adopt and ensure ways of working in our supply chains which:
- Respect fundamental international standards against criminal conduct (such as bribery, corruption and fraud) and human rights abuse (such as modern slavery), responding immediately where they are identified, and
- Result in direct improvements to the working lives of people who contribute to our supply chains
Our purpose in doing this is to ensure our suppliers are delivering contracts responsibly, and we build trust with the public by promoting a culture of high ethical standards that deter or expose poor behaviour and practice.
Charter signatories are required to consider how they can make a positive contribution to the economic, social and environmental well-being of Blackpool.
Blackpool Council Plan 2019-24
Blackpool faces many difficult challenges and we need to focus on the things that matter - improving our tourism offer, creating a broad range of job opportunities for everyone in the town, and creating stronger and safer communities. The 2019-2024 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 - understand what we're doing, who we're doing it with, and why we're doing it.
Our vision for Blackpool continues to be:
To 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.
Our council plan is built around three main goals, which give us a clear focus and direction as we move forwards.
- The local economy : Maximising growth and opportunity across Blackpool
- Our local communities: Creating stronger communities and increasing resilience
- Organisational resilience: Ensuring the efficient and effective running of the (council) organisation to enable (it) us to deliver quality services
Charter principles
The purpose of this charter is to set out some guiding principles, which Blackpool Council will adhere to and to which we invite our contracted suppliers, the wider business community, other public sector bodies and third sector organisations to adopt.
The charter sets out six 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
Aims of the suppliers charter
The council will:
- Seek delivery of economic, environmental and social benefit through decisions taken in respect of procurement and commissioning activities; including its major regeneration programmes
- Continue to work with local residents, businesses and organisations to identify the best way to target and deliver social value benefits
- Ensure that social value requirements placed on businesses and other organisations are relevant, proportionate and fair
- Focus on substantial procurement and regeneration investment to maximise the scale of local benefit.
- Work with council departments, supplier businesses and community organisations subject to this charter to improve understanding of social value and to continuously develop best practice in its design and delivery.
Our commitment to suppliers
The council is committed to:
- Operating lawful procurement processes that ensure all rules and policies are fairly applied; seeking to minimise cost to suppliers with equal access to relevant information.
- Encouraging a diverse range of suppliers to compete for council business.
- Advertising all tenders on the North West e-Tendering Portal - The Chest
- Balance opportunities with value for money by considering the division of larger contracts into smaller lots, to give SMEs and the voluntary and community sector an equal chance to tender for them.
- Conducting supplier information days to support suppliers in submitting compliant tenders.
- Publishing guidance on how to do business with us via the council website with clear specifications and instructions with all tender opportunities advertised.
- Respond to enquiries in a courteous, timely and professional manner offering constructive feedback to suppliers in writing following the award of contracts.
- Where invoices are not in dispute, meet contractual payment terms as laid down in the Public Contract Regulations Act 2015.
- Always act in line with our council values of accountability, fairness, quality, trustworthiness and compassion.
Signatories of the charter will commit to the following
Suppliers are required to align their organisational policy and practice with the six key principles of the Charter and to consider how they can deliver the themes, outcomes and measures identified below in their tender submissions:
Social Value Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOM'S)
Social Value Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOM'S)
| Themes | Outcomes | Measures |
|---|
|
Employing locally
and responsibly
|
- Increased local employment
- Employees paid the living wage
- A high level of employee development
- Supporting those most disadvantaged in the labour market
- Commonly practised high ethical and corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards in sourcing and employment
|
- No. of new jobs
- No. of apprentices/internships
- No. of employees paid the living wage
- No. of staff progressed to a higher skill level
- No. of contracts committed to the prompt payment code, no abuse of zero-hour contracts, no blacklisting, compliance with Human Rights Act/Modern Slavery Act/ILO Labour Standards, have a whistleblowing scheme
- Not tolerate harassment, intimidation or discrimination
Provide a safe and hygienic working environment
|
|
Sourcing locally
|
- Promote locally sourcing contracts
- and supply chains
- Prosperous local SME's
|
- Spend with local suppliers (£)
- Spend with local SME's (£)
(Any business with an FY postcode)
|
|
Green and sustainable
|
- Reduced carbon emissions
- Cleaner air and less pollution
- Enhanced public open spaces, trees, wildlife, and historic/cultural environment
- Reduced impact of waste, adopt the 'reduce, reuse and recycle' circular economy philosophy
- -Reduced impact from manufacture of goods supplied, including from use of natural resources
- -Be a good neighbour, minimise negative local impacts (e.g., noise, air quality)
- -Utilise environmentally sustainable products and materials.
|
- Carbon emissions saved (tonnes of 'CO2 equivalent' per year)
- Miles of travel or transportation per year converted to zero or low emissions
- Tonnes of waste eliminated or dealt with in a 'greener' way
- (in accordance with the UK's waste hierarchy)
- Value (£) spent (or in kind) to create /improve/protect public open space for wildlife/environment
|
|
Supporting and engaging with local communities
|
- Increased capacity and sustainability of the local voluntary and community sector
- An open channel of communication between businesses and communities
- Support health initiatives
- (particularly around mental health and wellbeing)
|
- Value (£) of investment/support in the community /through charity.
- Value (£) of generated volunteering opportunities
- No. of visits to local schools and colleges
- No. of work experience opportunities provided to pupils/ disadvantaged groups /long-term unemployed.
- No. of health/wellbeing promotion interventions supported for staff, customers and the community
|
|
Securing social value through procurement
Securing social value through procurement is an effective way to help address economic, social and environmental concerns in local communities.
Social value is a significant factor in terms of the scoring and awarding of contracts, alongside core service quality and cost. Social value commitments are required in all contracts irrespective of value.
In order to maximise social value we will target disadvantaged groups in Blackpool. In doing so, business and other organisations are then able to make the biggest difference to local communities, creating and sustaining jobs and other tangible ways of reducing poverty and improving health and quality of life for local residents.
Through effective local procurement, we can make a global impact. We can do this through ethical and environmental initiatives considering a products life cycle from the responsible sourcing of materials and manufacturing, through to more products that are durable and reduce amount of waste at end of life.
Measuring impact
A clear scoring framework for social value will be embedded in all tenders and contracts to ensure transparency in awards and post award delivery commitments.
The council recognises that our large regeneration projects provides a huge opportunity for social value delivery, but it is equally important to seek social value benefits across all its tenders and contracts.
Coupled with this, it is equally important to ensure that suppliers (particularly local suppliers) understand both the council's vision and how to implement and respond to social value questions in tender responses. Therefore, we will establish with our delivery partners and suppliers key performance indicators (KPIs), based on the Themes Outcomes and Measures (TOM's) outlined in this document to demonstrate the benefits delivered by this charter. These will be communicated regularly, as part of the updates on our key economic and sustainability action plans.
It is expected that suppliers produce KPI reports and submit these along with supporting case studies regularly on a monthly or quarterly basis (as directed) throughout the life of the project to the council for monitoring and reporting.
To deliver social value
The council aims to lead by example in generating meaningful and tangible social value benefits for our community, and will actively collaborate with other organisations with similar objectives. This will extend to the council's wholly owned companies, strategic public-sector bodies, supplier and other businesses, and third sector organisations who have the potential to secure significant social value.
The council will support these organisations to develop policies and procedures with the aim of delivering greater social value benefits across the borough.
Why will signing up to the charter be good for my business?
By signing the charter, you are telling other businesses and customers in Blackpool that you are committed to:
- Spending your Blackpool pound with local companies to maximise the economic benefit to the town.
- Recruiting locally, being a good employer and creating opportunities for employee volunteering
- Looking after the local environment
- Supporting the health, well-being and resilience of our communities'
This charter is a statement of intent of the council's commitment to our suppliers and the expectations we have of current and potential suppliers, it does not hold any legal status.'
For the council:
Councillor Lynn Williams, Leader of the Council
For the contractor:
Contractor's authorised representative
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