Cost of Living Crisis & Local Gov't Procurement: November 2022 Update

Back in early September, we analysed how local authorities had been harnessing procurement to respond to the mounting cost of living crisis over the past year.

Since then, local procurement teams have continued to publish tenders and award contracts aimed at helping their residents through these troubling times.

In this update, we've harnessed Tussell's market intelligence platform to spotlight initiatives undertaken at the local procurement level over the past couple months to address the cost of living crisis.

⚪ Delivery of Domestic Energy Efficiency Measures Approved List - Pre-Information Notice, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council

This PIN - published in mid-October - publicised Rhondda Cynon Taf's intentions to produce an "approved list of suitably qualified and experienced companies to deliver domestic energy efficiency measures" throughout the Borough Council.

The Approved Providers List (APL) will aid the Borough Council in its ambition to "deliver domestic energy measures to all households" "in order to mitigate fuel poverty, reduce energy and carbon use and develop and strengthen a local low-carbon supply chain".

🔵 Wandsworth and Richmond Assessment Point for Winter Warmth & Fuel Poverty Service - Tender Notice, Wandsworth Borough Council

Scheduled to commence in December, this £1.23 million tender sought a supplier to help operate a Wandsworth and Richmond Assessment Point (WRAP) for the council's Winter Warmth and Fuel Poverty Service.

The Service aims to help Richmond and Wandsworth residents who are struggling with fuel poverty, "and contribute to reducing winter mortality".

🔵 Support for a healthy VCFS for a thriving Surrey - Tender Notice, Surrey County Council

This tender, published in November, aims to support Surrey's Voluntary & Community Frontline Sector at a time when residents are "increasingly likely to require the support that [the Sector] can offer".

As the tender explains: "By providing immediate direct support to community groups through this service", "this provision will develop financially sustainable resident-led community organisations now and into the future".

🔵 Winter Food Parcel Distributor - Tender Notice, South Cambridgeshire District Council

Following on from its Warm Hubs contract awarded back in September, South Cambridgeshire District Council recently published a tender in search of a food parcel distributor "to link with our network of Warm Hubs to ensure that people attending these hubs also have access to food if they need it".

🔴 Fresh Pods - Contract Awards, Staffordshire County Council

This relatively small £2.5k contract provides Staffordshire County Council with a supply of Fresh Pods - a product which extends the shelf life of fruit and vegetables - for distribution "to a variety of homes for persons / families on low incomes" "to assist with the cost of living rise in 2022."

🔴 Mental Health Breakthrough Project - Contract Awards, Leeds City Council

Leeds County Council awarded this £15k contract to Human Being (Yorkshire) CIC to deliver a pilot project aimed at addressing mental health issues in specified areas: specifically, areas which have seen increased mental health needs as a result of "COVID-19 and in the context of the cost of living crisis".

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As we enter the winter period, local authorities will no doubt harness procurement more and more as a means to aid their residents during these difficult times.

The above tenders and contracts illustrate that this aid is likely to take a multifaceted format: the all-encompassing nature of the cost of living crisis requires responses to span areas like food poverty, fuel poverty, and mental health.

You can access our first analysis of local procurement's response to the cost of living crisis here.

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To see how Tussell can help your procurement team to keep track of what your neighbouring authorities are procuring, book a demo of the Tussell platform.