The former Greater Manchester Mayor said the country is “stuck in a rut” and “spends too much time arguing and not enough time doing”.
In a wide-ranging policy speech, he lay out his plans to get Britain unstuck. This includes “taking power from the centre” in favour of a system that offers communities across the UK further autonomy.
Alongside ‘Number 10 North’, the potential new PM also promised to change UK public procurement policies. He said these have historically been more focused on “chasing cut price deals around the world” rather than helping “British-based suppliers become more stable and competitive”.
He flagged his proposed changes as “essential” in an increasingly uncertain world, where relying too heavily on imports is proving to be too risky; and promised to “safeguard sovereign manufacturing and production capability across the country in critical sectors”, including food and farming.
Procurement and social value
Commenting on the potential new PM’s speech, Simon Geale, EVP at procurement and supply chain consultancy, Proxima, said it’s no surprise to hear Andy Burnham talking about procurement and social value.
“With £350bn spent annually, every Prime Minister, or Prime Minister elect, knows that procurement is one of the biggest economic levers the government has,” he said.
Looking at procurement and social value together “makes sense from a policy perspective and will also appeal to his base”, Geale continued – but, as he also pointed out, isn’t a new concept.
“Successive Prime Ministers have talked about one form or another of increased social value through government spending, be that in the form of levelling up, a new industrial strategy or greater access for SMEs to government contracts,” he explained.
“While one could argue that these strategies have been effective, or could have been if the shackles were off, public procurement rules have mostly been built around creating transparent and level playing fields in pursuit of value for money. They were not built to favour British firms.”
Geale points out that in a world of multi person firm ownership, procurement teams need to consider what truly constitutes as British.
“While Burnham cited British based, rather than British owned firms, the criteria could include where their HQ is, tax residency is and how material their UK workforce is,” he added.
“Favouring a business just because it is British, or British based, is not in line with current procurement laws and is susceptible to legal challenges.
“This is where smarter use of social value comes in. Three things need to work in tandem; firstly, the desired social value outcomes need to be clearly articulated, secondly the scores attached to these outcomes need to be meaningful, and thirdly the scoring criteria or method needs to be clear and fair.
“It may be true that when these things come together, some contracts are naturally more attractive to British based firms without injecting bias into the process.”
As such, future policy and specifications will need to be put together in such a way where British firms can win creditably, without bias.
“It will not be easy to achieve the aims being talked about, but it will be possible to do more than has been done in the past,” Geale said.
“Procurement teams will need to be engaged early in commercial processes to architect outcome-based tenders whilst ensuring ensure fairness, compliance.”
Unite backs Burnham’s plans
Unite the Union has also reacted to Burnham’s speech, saying his address shows he is “listening to the issues”.
In a rather positive statement, Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, commented: “It is clear that Andy has been in listening mode. Britain needs a vision that deals with its current rampant inequality and jobs vacuum.
“Actions will speak louder than words – but this is the start of a discussion about a better path for workers and communities.
“His promise to reindustrialise our regions and nations with support for UK steel, defence, energy, food and agriculture is much needed. As is his plan to bring our utilities, like water, energy and transport, back into public control and his proposal to revise our procurement rules to ensure taxpayers money is used to buy British. These are all things Unite has long argued for.
“The breathing space that he spoke about will also be vital for everyday people who have been hit with frozen tax thresholds and rising energy prices during a cost-of-living crisis. These issues need to be addressed.”
Sainsbury’s boss seeks action on costs
Meanwhile, Sainsbury’s CEO Simon Roberts has called on Burnham to engage with businesses like his on reducing energy levies and employer costs, as reported in our sister title Retail Week.
“I’d like to see [policies] that help build confidence and optimism in the economy and support customers in feeling more confident,” Roberts said.
“We’ve talked before about the costs of food production, the energy costs of food production, and we’d really want to see government engaging on the sort of key principle of reducing those levies and costs on energy that the food industry faces. Particularly when many other heavy-use industries don’t face the same issues.”
‘Time will tell’
Reacting to Burnham’s opening remarks on economic priorities, Clive Black, vice chairman of Shore Capital, told Food Manufacture that these could be “seismically beneficial to the UK food system and the British economy”.
But - only if they are followed through in time by appropriate policy actions; something which he notes has been “terribly absent” for decades.
If unopposed in his leadership bid, Burnham will become PM on 20 July.
