The Chancellor’s recent spending review means there is unlikely to be any let up in the continued spending cuts that local authorities and other public sector organisations need to keep making.
A recent review by the Audit Commission also showed that while many councils have managed to make planned savings and added to their reserves, a number may in fact struggle to make additional cuts in 2013 – an issue that may have a significant negative impact on key services such as social care.
Constructing West Midlands (CWM) has been set up to help public sector organisations in the West Midlands make considerable time and cost savings in their construction procurement. The CWM framework operates through Acivico (a wholly owned company of Birmingham City Council) working in partnership with nine locally based contractors from across the West Midlands region, all with extensive experience and expertise across the construction industry.
Our work covers the breadth of the public sector from developing blue light and education facilities to helping local authorities provide affordable housing. The combined partners are essentially a ready-made delivery vehicle for capital building works and reactive / planned repair and maintenance works for public sector organisations throughout the West Midlands.
As a ready-made regional delivery vehicle, CWM offers the potential to save the public sector millions of pounds in procurement costs. These savings in turn can be re-invested into the services which so badly need the funds. The benefits of using an ‘off-the-shelf’ delivery vehicle such as CWM are significant, with a completed OJEU process, an average procurement time saving of between 100 and 200 days, savings made on the design and technical services costs and a 5-10% saving on maintenance and construction costs.
It's not just about the construction process and any public sector projects must maximise opportunities to invest in the communities in which they are working. We have set up a joint Targeted Recruitment and Training initiative to ensure local jobs and training in the areas in which we work. We will be working closely with the public sector organisations involved to ensure that we are assisting them to hit their targets.
Alongside Birmingham City Council, we have already provided 26 new jobs and 17 apprenticeships; helping to ensure the West Midlands has the skilled and engaged workforce that it will need in years to come.
Getting the most from our buildings is imperative and this is a challenging time for the public sector with many conflicting priorities. Yes we need to save money but we also need to procure and create modern, sustainable buildings and ensure that our existing ones stay fit for purpose and are run as efficiently as possible.
By working together across the West Midlands we hope we can help other organisations to meet their targets, keep investment in the Midlands, and pioneer the path to greater efficiency.
Sean McMulkin is CWM framework manager.
