Posted on: Wednesday 25 October 2023
Torfaen Council has signed up to a new procurement service focusing on socially responsible business purchasing, increased collaboration and greater community impact.
The service has been launched by Cardiff Council as part of Ardal - a collaborative procurement partnership with Torfaen Council, Monmouthshire County Council and the Vale of Glamorgan Council.
Ardal will harness the skills, knowledge and expertise across all Ardal Councils, and other partners, to develop exemplar solutions of what can be achieved through collaborative, agile procurement.
Torfaen Council’s Executive Member for Resources, Councillor Susan Morgan, said:
“We are very excited by the opportunities that Ardal brings. Through this new service the council will be taking bold steps to tackle inequality, protect our environment, and adapt to a world being reshaped by climate change. Key to our work is a passion to build better communities through socially responsible procurement and partnerships with charities and community partners that delivers tangible, positive change.
“This new approach will help the council deliver on some of its key County Plan objectives, including helping to reduce carbon emissions to Net Zero by 2030 and improvements to the local environment, as well as ensuring procurement spend is more accessible to small, local businesses and the third sector.
“It will also aim to improve Fair Work, Equity and Safeguarding practices adopted by suppliers and increase community benefits delivered by suppliers, that will be tracked and measured to ensure genuine social impact.”
“Securing value for money, ensuring legal compliance and robust and transparent governance, as well as promoting innovative and best-practice solutions are naturally core pillars of Ardal’s approach.”
The new collaboration has been formed to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving procurement landscape and to provide solutions in line with Welsh Government legislation, including the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 and the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023.
The Ardal procurement service will continue to manage the well-established South East Wales regional collaborative frameworks, SEWSCAP (buildings construction framework), which completed a landmark £1bn worth of projects with the opening of Bridgend College’s STEAM Academy, SEWH (highways framework) and SEWTAPS (technical and professional services framework.
For more information then please visithttps://ardal-procurement.gov.wales