Labour MP Dan Carden has welcomed the Government’s drive to use public spending to support British jobs, skills and domestic supply chains, arguing that procurement can play an important role in rebuilding the country’s productive economy.
The Liverpool Walton MP backed the Government’s renewed focus on ensuring public procurement delivers wider economic benefits for communities across Britain.
Writing on X, Carden said:
“Public spending should help create skilled jobs, strengthen local supply chains and support communities across the country.
“Making British jobs and skills a central part of public procurement is a welcome step towards rebuilding our productive economy.”
Carden was responding to comments from Chancellor John Healey, who has said he wants every government department to play its part in delivering economic growth.
Healey said the Government had made buying British a leading priority, arguing that domestic procurement should happen “not just if possible, but by design”.
The approach reflects Labour’s ambition to use the purchasing power of the state more strategically, ensuring billions of pounds spent each year on public contracts do more to support employment, skills and businesses across the UK.
For small and medium-sized businesses in particular, changes to procurement policy could provide greater opportunities to compete for government contracts and become part of public-sector supply chains.
Labour has increasingly emphasised the role of government procurement in supporting its wider growth agenda, with ministers seeking to ensure public money generates greater economic and social value alongside delivering the goods and services required by the state.
Carden’s intervention adds to support from Labour MPs for an approach that links government purchasing decisions more closely with industrial policy, regional growth and the creation of skilled employment.
The Liverpool MP said putting British jobs and skills at the centre of procurement represented a “welcome step” towards strengthening the productive foundations of the UK economy.
