School of Business and Management

Public procurement, social value and equality

Dr Tessa WrightCentre for Research in Equality and DiversityQueen Mary University of Londont.wright@qmul.ac.uk

ESRC Seminar Regulation of Work, University of Strathclyde, 17 September 2015

School of Business and Management

Outline Procurement and equality history Legal framework Case example: Olympic Park and Women

into Construction project Future prospects

School of Business and Management

Using procurement to promote equality Contract compliance and race equality under Labour-led

Greater London Council in 1980s, but barred under Tory government in 1988 and abolition of GLC

Renewed interest in procurement and equality under Labour after 1997; race equality duty 2000

Women and Work Commission (2006) recommended procurement policy to address gender pay gap

EHRC guidance 2013 Buying better outcomes: Mainstreaming equality considerations in procurement

School of Business and Management

Procurement and social objectives Social clauses, community benefits, social value Fair Wages Resolutions 1891, 1909 and 1946 Tackling poverty (JRF, 2014); recruitment and

training Living wage – London Olympics, Scottish Government Unions, i.e. Unite Fair Deal for Public Services

procurement strategy: contracted out workers, zero-hours contracts, living wage

School of Business and Management

Legal framework Public Sector Equality Duty introduced in Equality Act

2010, extended from race, gender and disability duties Public bodies must pay ‘due regard’ to eliminating

discrimination and promoting equality in all functions Applies to procurement, so may require equality

obligations in contracts with private firms Specific duty on procurement in Wales and Scotland, not

England; Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 EU law doesn’t prevent equality clauses (McCrudden)

School of Business and Management

Legal framework Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 Public authorities must consider how services they

commission can improve economic, social and environmental well-being of the area

Applies only to services contracts, not works; includes housing maintenance

Section 106 planning agreements: contributions can include employment opportunities and training

School of Business and Management

Women in UK construction Women 1.3% of manual trades; 16% of professional

construction roles Highly masculine working culture; beliefs about women’s

unsuitability; employer resistance; informal recruitment practices; self-employment; sexual harassment; long and inflexible work hours

Many initiatives to increase diversity in the industry; non-traditional work for women to address gender pay gap; use of public procurement to promote equality

School of Business and Management

Procurement & equality in construction London Olympic Park: workforce

diversity targets for women, BAME, disabled plus local labour; set by Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA)through contracting process, plus extensive monitoring

Women into Construction project set up in 2008 to support ODA gender targets; public & industry funding

ODA target 11% women; reached 5% (trades 3%)

School of Business and Management

Women into Construction project WiC project now in 8th year Outreach and recruitment of women Engagement with contractors Employment preparation and training for women (900+) Supported work placements (222 to 2014) Brokering employment (450 to 2014) Regular reviews and ongoing support to women and

contractors

School of Business and Management

Women into Construction project Research evaluation report 2014 Success of WiC model due to addressing

supply and demand: preparing women, providing placements/brokering jobs

Ongoing support to women Procurement requirements from public

sector clients crucial in engaging contractors with project

School of Business and Management

Employer reasons for participation Access to pool of labour, overcoming skills shortages;

placements offer ‘free trial’ Winning contracts: meeting local labour targets and

workforce diversity objectives, also apprenticeships“Since we’ve had the girls working for us, people like [contractor]

say to us ‘you’ve done us a big favour’ [...] And I never realised, but it helps the main contractor as well, not just us as a subcontractor. It’s giving us the opportunity for more work.” (Contracts Manager, Painting and decorating company)

School of Business and Management

Employer reasons for participation Support for targets for women’s employment:“They might actually wake up and say ‘right, well we

haven't had five per cent of ladies on site’, whatever the figure is, and ‘there’s a penalty clause’. And then maybe they will wake up and do something about it. And then see the benefit of actually having some ladies there. Then it becomes normal.” (Project manager, building contractor)

School of Business and Management

Future prospects? Women into Construction project having impact; growing

number of women and contractors Social Value Act 2012 starting to have effect – applies to

services contracts not works, i.e. maintenance Role of stakeholders (Conley and Wright, 2015) Lack of government support for promoting equality and

procurement: PSED Review in 2013, then Minister Maria Miller called for reduction in “procurement gold-plating by the public sector”; further review in 2016