The Audit and Best Value Scrutiny Committee comissioned a review to find out if we offer a level playing field to small and medium sized-enterprises (SMEs) that are interested – or have succeeded – in chasing Council contracts.
They asked small and medium-sized firms in East Sussex to take part in a consultation to find out what it's like doing business with the Council.
How we do business
Every year we spend about £350m on goods, works and services. A large amount of this is carried out by the Council under its own contracts or jointly with other local authorities and government bodies.
Over the last few years we have worked with business partners to introduce a range of initiatives to make it easier to do business with us. These include:
- working better with other local authorities to minimise bureaucracy
- better use of the Internet to advertise work to smaller companies
- splitting contracts into smaller lots to allow SMEs to compete more easily, and
- improved pages on our website and a dedicated business link on the homepage.
Aim of the review
In the economic downturn, local businesses are being hit hard. We want to find out if small and medium-sized firms are finding it easier to win contracts from the Council, or if we should do more to ease the process.
Reporting
You can download the scrutiny review board's final report below. This report was considered by:
East Sussex County Council