They reckon a Buy British policy can get round European procurement law if clients take a looser interpretation of ‘best value’ to include the wider economic and social benefits of buying British.
The Rebuilding Britain campaign, launched today by the British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA), calls for a change in procurement guidelines. The BCSA wants public sector purchasers to take into account the economic and social benefits offered by UK-based firms as part of an assessment of bids for best value.
“Last year, the UK’s last remaining train factory bid for a £1.4bn contract to build 1,200 carriages for Thameslink,” said BCSA director general Sarah McCann Bartlett. “It lost out on cost to overseas competition. This has had a devastating effect, with Bombardier going on to cut 1,000 jobs. Concerns still remain over the job security of the business’ remaining 1,600 UK employees.”
She continued: “This is just one example. We need a fundamental shift in procurement guidelines to consider best value, not cost alone. The UK Contractor Group’s Creating Britain’s Future has already done an excellent job in raising awareness of the contribution the UK construction sector makes to our economy. Rebuilding Britain is the next step on this journey. It calls for immediate and practical action to enable UK-based companies to compete on an equal footing with international competitors.”
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Currently, standards in quality, health and safety, and environmental responsibility can vary significantly dependent on the company’s country of origin, the BCSA argues. It reckons that the UK has ‘particularly high standards’ and these should be factored into the procurement process.
The BCSA wants special treatment to be extended to Irish firms as well as British ones – the BCSA has members in the Republic of Ireland. Contractors from other EU countries, regardless of their competence, quality and price, should be judged differently when assessing bids.
The BCSA says that the approach that it is demanding has already been in use by the Highways Agency since 2001, through the BCSA's own RQSC (Register of Qualified Steelwork Contractors for Bridgeworks) quality assurance scheme. Only one firm from mainland Europe, Hollandia of the Netherlands, is RQSC registered.
The Rebuilding Britain website offers a model clause that it suggests that clients insert into contract document. For bridges steelwork, the contractor must be RQSC registered. For steelwork in buildings, the contractor must be approved by the BCSA.
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