Preet Kaur Gill MP backs Labour plans to prioritise British jobs and skills in major projects

Preet Kaur Gill MP has welcomed the news that British jobs and skills will be prioritised in the construction of new roads, railway lines, hospitals and schools across Birmingham and the West Midlands.

Under Labour plans, announced in full today, companies who bid for public contracts to build new infrastructure will have to show that they will create high quality British jobs or skills before winning a contract.

The news could see hundreds of billions of pounds of public money harnessed to boost jobs and drive growth across the country.

The news will be particularly welcome in the West Midlands. In the Spending Review earlier this month, Labour announced billions of pounds worth of investment in new infrastructure. This included major investment in the West Midlands, with the government announcing £2.4 billion in local transport funding for the West Midlands Combined Authority, enabling the extension of the metro from East Birmingham to Solihull – as well as new funding for the Midlands Rail Hub, better linking Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham and Cardiff.

The changes proposed by Labour will mean that - where public contracts are awarded through this funding – companies will be expected to create good, British jobs or unlock skills in the local area. It’s estimated that £385bn worth of public contracts are awarded every year.

Labour is also driving through changes to ensure that those delivering public contracts fulfil their obligations. A new process will see major contractors reporting on how they have boosted jobs, opportunities or skills in the building of major infrastructure.

Preet Kaur Gill MP, Member of Parliament for Birmingham, Edgbaston, said:

“I’m delighted that Labour are making this common-sense change that will create good jobs and spread opportunity across Birmingham and the West Midlands.

“Labour is rebuilding Britain with record funding for roads, schools and hospitals. It’s only right that the companies delivering these projects demonstrate how they’ll create good local jobs.

“This is Labour’s Plan for Change in action.”

ENDS

Editor’s notes:

• In Labour’s consultation, launched on Thursday, the government will propose:

• Requiring contracting authorities to set at least one award criteria in major procurements which relates to the quality of the supplier’s contribution to jobs, opportunities or skills.

• Requiring contracting authorities to set at least one social value Key Performance Indicator (KPI) relating to jobs, opportunities or skills in major contracts and report on delivery performance against this KPI in contract performance notices.

• Requiring contracting authorities to use standard social value criteria and metrics selected from a streamlined list (to be co-designed with the public sector) in their contracts to make it easier to track the impact of social value commitments made by suppliers and to help them plan longer-term interventions.

• Allowing contracting authorities to specify the area in which the social value is to be delivered by choosing between the location of a contracting authority’s area of responsibility, the location where the contract will be performed, or the location where the supplier is based.