Wales urged to treat procurement as economic driver
Welsh Local Government Association highlights how £11bn public spend can boost SMEs, skills and social value if procurement is seen as strategic.
Wales spends roughly £11 billion a year on public procurement, yet the Welsh Local Government Association says the money is being treated as a routine expense rather than a strategic economic lever.
Richard Dooner, programme manager at the WLGA, warned that the current approach risks missing wider benefits for communities, businesses and the labour market.
“We spend a lot of time talking about how Wales can strengthen its economy, support local businesses, develop skills and create better opportunities in our communities,” he said.
He added that procurement should be viewed as “influence” rather than simply a line‑item to be spent efficiently.
“It’s our duty to do more with the money that we spend than simply spend it,” Dooner argued, urging a shift from a narrow focus on price to a broader assessment of impact.
Public bodies, he noted, must still purchase the goods and services required to deliver frontline services, but the evaluation should extend beyond “Did we buy what we needed at an acceptable price?”
“What else did we achieve with that money?” he asked, highlighting the need to gauge employment creation, SME support, supply‑chain resilience, apprenticeships and social value.
The WLGA’s stance reflects growing calls across the UK for public sector procurement to align with economic development goals.
In Wales, the potential is amplified by the concentration of public spend and the ambition to nurture a distinctly Welsh supply chain.
“We have the ability to connect procurement much more deliberately with our ambitions around local economic development, skills, SMEs, fair work and stronger Welsh supply chains,” Dooner said.
He cautioned, however, that not every pound can or should stay within Wales, acknowledging the complexity of modern supply chains.
Instead, the focus should be on understanding where public money creates the greatest value and using purchasing power intelligently to maximise that impact.
One of the WLGA’s concerns is the limited capacity of procurement teams, which he described as the “Cinderella service of the public sector”.
Small teams are expected to deliver large outcomes while coping with increasing administrative and reporting demands.
“If we genuinely believe procurement can help deliver economic, social and community outcomes, then we have to invest in the people and professional capability required to make that happen,” he insisted.
He compared the public sector’s view of procurement with that of major corporations, which treat supply‑chain management as a strategically important function rather than a back‑office afterthought.
“A major corporation wouldn’t regard procurement and supply chain management as a back‑office afterthought.” It would recognise them as strategically important functions and the public sector should be no different,” Dooner said.
The WLGA’s call comes as Welsh councils grapple with budget pressures and the need to demonstrate value for money.
By embedding economic objectives into procurement processes, councils could potentially unlock new contracts for local SMEs, foster apprenticeships and drive fair‑work standards.
Such outcomes would not only support the Welsh economy but also deliver tangible social benefits, from job creation to community development.
“The real opportunity is to understand where public money ultimately creates value and to use our purchasing power intelligently to maximise that impact,” Dooner concluded.
He urged policymakers and procurement officers to treat procurement as an integral part of Wales’s economic strategy, rather than a peripheral administrative task.
As the Welsh Government continues to champion local growth, the WLGA’s perspective may shape future reforms to procurement policy and practice.
Stakeholders across the public and private sectors will be watching to see whether the call for a more strategic, outcome‑focused procurement model gains traction.
Should the Welsh public sector adopt the WLGA’s recommendations, the £11 billion annual spend could become a catalyst for broader economic resilience and community prosperity.