2022 in Review: A Comparison of North East Public Spending
With public procurement procedures expected to change significantly following the introduction of the Procurement Bill and increased devolution spending in 2023, it is appropriate to review some key North East spending trends from local authorities over the last year. Executive Compass, leading UK providers in bid management services, analysed of 2022 spending, procurement trends over the past five years and expiring contracts in 2023 can give valuable insight to businesses looking to grow their revenue and customer base in the near future.
Consequently, this review will examine SME-suitable procurement opportunities in three separate North East authorities; Durham County Council, Newcastle City Council and Sunderland City Council. All data is provided courtesy of Tussell.
2022 in review
Durham County Council
During 2022, Durham County Council posted a total of 98 notices for a total of £568 million judged as suitable for small- and medium-sized businesses across the entire administrative region. This included the following:
| Opportunity title | Total value |
| Municipal waste haulage service | £25 million |
| Community learning provision | £700k – 1.4 million |
| Collection, treatment and disposal of clinical/offensive waste | £175k – 200k |
| Framework agreement for the supply, delivery and commission of natural gas-fired condensing boilers | £600k |
| Provision of manned security guard services | £2 million |
| Provision of domiciliary care services (extra care – dementia) | £900k – 1.5 million |
| Framework agreement for highway grass verge and hedge cutting within County Durham | £360k |
| Provision of substance misuse recovery and treatment services | £2 million |
Based on Tussell’s data on awarded suppliers for SME-suitable contracts in Durham, only three of the top ten suppliers were local SMEs. They included a home care service for the elderly and disabled, a road marking and construction services company and a traffic management firm.
Newcastle City Council
35 contract notices for a total value of £390 million were posted by Newcastle City Council during 2022 – meaning that nearly 90% of contract notices were suitable for SMEs, a higher percentage than Durham and Sunderland. Tenders covered a broad range of industries, and included:
| Opportunity title | Total value |
| Framework agreement for home care | £14 million |
| Damp proofing framework | £4 – 6 million |
| Provision of carer support services | £2.12 million |
| South Gosforth first school roofing works | £400k |
| Life refurbishment for Wansbeck House | £25k – 100k |
| Supply and fit of timber fencing | £2 – 4 million |
| Works to Cat A at commercial units | £400k |
| Hire of operated and non-operated plant | £6.8 million |
Of the publicly announced supplier awards for 2022, six of the top ten suppliers with the highest contract awards were local SMEs. This included a roof works company, a family charity organisation and a Computer Aided Facility Management (CAFM) software firm.
Sunderland City Council
In comparison with County Durham and Newcastle, SME-suitable public spending from Sunderland was significantly lower, totalling just 48 notices with a value of £50.3 million. Tendering opportunities included the following:
| Opportunity title | Total value |
| Legionella monitoring and maintenance of water supplies | £400k |
| Framework agreement for minor works (Category 1 and 2) | Cat 1 – £16 million
Cat 2 – £2.5 million |
| Framework agreement for off-road surfacing | £200k |
| Planting, maintenance and supply of trees | £350k |
| Care and support with extra care schemes | £3.2 million |
| Framework agreement for hard and soft landscaping for Thompson Park and Downhill Bridleways refurbishment works | £4 million |
Based on publicly announced contract awards, five of the top ten suppliers for SME-suitable tenders were small- and medium-sized businesses based in the North East. A home care company, landscaping firm and construction business were some of the highest-performing local suppliers.
Tendering trends in recent years
To further contextualise the amount, proportion and percentage of local spend in the North East, it is important to compare 2022 spend to previous amounts over the last few years.
Local spend for Sunderland County Council saw a dramatic decrease over 2020 and 2021, before recovering slightly in 2022 – however, the annual spend was still less than 30% of the 2019 total. Unlike Newcastle and County Durham, Sunderland did not benefit from large framework agreements for care and leasing facilities, which may explain the dramatic difference to the other local authorities. However, as outlined in the next section, authority spend is due to increase by over 600% during 2023, an excellent sign for prospective bidders.
Newcastle saw a large boost in public spend during 2022, driven by a £200 million framework for supported living for people with learning disabilities and autism spectrum conditions – a five-year agreement that was suitable for SMEs. Frameworks also constituted a large proportion of authority spending in 2018 and 2019, including £60 million for legal services and £12.6 million for housing with care for over-55s.
Durham County Council is the only local authority to maintain at least £100 million worth of opportunities each year, peaking in 2021 and 2022 with £444 million and £563 million in total contract value respectively. Like others, it saw a significant decrease in total spend during 2020. During 2022, the largest available framework for SMEs in County Durham was a contract for the provision of municipal waste haulage, valued at £25 million.
2023 and beyond
Beginning in 2023, local North East businesses will benefit from a phased launch of Open, a new and streamlined e-procurement platform which will host tendering opportunities across a range of industries in the region. Overseen by NEPO, Open will replace the former ProContract-based NEPO portal as the official platform for bidding and tendering opportunities.
Over the next 12 months, the following opportunities will become available for tendering on Open:
- Newcastle City Council has 174 contracts due to expire, worth a total of £117 million
- Durham County Council has 165 contracts due to expire, worth a total of £128 million
- Sunderland City Council has 78 contracts due to expire, worth a total of £315 million.
Further good news for local businesses includes a proposed devolution deal from the central government, agreed in principle by local authority leaders of County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, Northumberland, Sunderland and North/South Tyneside. This includes a £1.4 billion investment fund (released over 30 years) to support ‘inclusive economic growth’ in the region, signed into law by the Levelling Up Secretary on 27 January.
Overall, the results of the review demonstrate the considerable number and value of opportunities available for micro-, small- and medium-sized businesses via local authorities. This is not inclusive of other public buyers, such as NHS North of England CSU, Newcastle University and Home Group, who offered a combined £733.5 million worth of opportunities across 96 contracts or frameworks suitable for SME bidders in 2022. Local authorities such as the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, North Tyneside Council and Northumberland County Council also provide a valuable resource for SMEs looking to enter the public procurement arena.
