GMB general secretary Gary Smith has called for procurement reform to ensure public spending supports more jobs and opportunities in Britain.
Analysis published by GMB and Tussell puts public-sector spending with private-equity-backed firms whose ultimate owners were based offshore at almost £17 billion in 2024–25. GMB says spending with all private-equity-backed firms in its analysis totalled about £31 billion.
Smith used the figures to argue that Labour should strengthen procurement rules for publicly funded energy, defence, housing and infrastructure projects.
He said legislation should do more to secure domestic supply-chain opportunities and better jobs when public money is spent. The union’s proposal would require the government to decide how those aims could be built into purchasing rules; it is not an announced change in law.
For Smith, procurement is part of a broader industrial-policy question: whether investment intended to rebuild Britain also delivers work for people and firms based here.
