We're in this, together

Earlier collaboration, partnership beyond projects

The discussion turned to the practical realities of achieving local spend, employment and carbon reduction targets.

One attendee raised the issue of whether there was wide enough communication of these targets and if the variance between local authorities’ requirements made it harder for SMEs to secure work.

It becomes very difficult to achieve the greatest levels of carbon reduction, or meaningful, targeted social value outcomes, without bringing everyone around the table at the earliest possible stage. For example, when you do that you can look to share materials across projects and batch source them, greatly reducing embodied carbon during construction.

Responding, another participant said: “It’s an important point, because it can’t just be the large well-sourced businesses which engage with the green agenda or social value commitments. We need buy-in from everyone to progress in both areas.SMEs in local supply chains may be focused on simply keeping the lights on in these challenging trading conditions.They need the support to upskill where necessary and be able to view the targets in a positive, aspirational light, not as a barrier to working on public sector projects.”Everyone agreed that early engagement on project pipelines, and ongoing partnerships with the supply chain, were key to ensuring that main contractors and SMEs had visibility of work and an understanding of the long-term investment in training and technology required.