United magazine • Summer 2021

WHY IS PROCUREMENT CRUCIAL
TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT?
Canterbury Bankstown Council Mayor Khal Asfour believes
local councils hold the key to job creation through
their objectives and strategy on employment and purchasing.
He explains how important procurement policy
is to local economies and its link to the USU’s Council
Services by Council Workers campaign.
There is no doubt there is a place for procurement capability
across the Local Government sector.
There are some very clear financial and cost benefits, but
these must be weighed against service delivery to the
community and to the detriment of your workforce both
now and into the future.
Councils have initiated good procurement practices in
Waste disposal, engineering works and fleet management
services.
But the major areas of spend are still roads and associated
infrastructure, facilities, including building, construction
and maintenance, and plant & equipment.
What Local Government must remember is that procurement
should be an enabler of Council operations rather
than an inhibitor.
And must balance the immediate needs of the community,
that is low cost and high service, against the needs of
the long-term economic sustainability of the community.
Procurement strategy and governance structure must
align with Council’s objectives and strategy. This typically
impacts the trade-off of sometimes conflicting objectives,
such as lower cost versus support of your local smaller
vendors.
WITH THAT IN MIND LET’S NOT FORGET:
1. Procurement is about expenditure management
2. It’s about continuous improvement
3. And it’s about attraction and retention of key staff.
Being an employer of choice.
A recent example at Canterbury Bankstown Council was
our red and yellow bin waste services. We had until recently
contractors performing this service in one part of
the City and Council employees performing the same task
in the Bankstown side.
We made a decision to take control of our waste services
and earlier this year we brought it back in house, employing
an additional 27 fulltime new garbo’s and 7 customer
service staff.
We improved our technology, with real time tracking,
cameras to ensure surety for our customers and safety for
our workforce.
The cost difference was negligible and our customer satisfaction
was back squarely in our hands.
This is just one example of where local governments and
indeed all levels of Government can play a key role in the
USU’s campaign. When it is practicable and circumstances
permit, full time employees should be the first choice
ahead of contractors.
Employing full time staff provides jobs for our local community
which in turn creates investment and wealth in
our local economy and not just in the hands of a few multinational
hire companies.
Workers are the backbone and face of most organisations
and we must all fight to preserve their rights and ensure
they are gainfully employed.
10 • United Summer 2021