Monday 10 August 2026 4:21 am  |  Updated:  Friday 07 August 2026 4:44 pm

‘Good growth in every postcode’ is a woeful catchphrase

By: Eliot Wilson

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Burnham and co’s bid to ‘back British’ and generate ‘good growth’ everywhere is a bid to fool voters with their own money, writes Eliot Wilson

Last week, Louise Haigh, first secretary of state, Andy Burnham’s consigliere and viceroy in northern England, announced a shakeup of the government’s rules on public procurement. This sounds dry but represents £90bn of public expenditure each year. It matters.

Government purchasing is overseen centrally by the commercial policy directorate of the Cabinet Office, and Haigh is the most senior of eight ministers. It operates under the terms of the Procurement Act 2023: this currently requires contracts to be awarded with “regard” to value for money, public benefit, integrity, the barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises, contribution to the UK economy, various elements of “social value” and a host of other considerations.

The process is too complex, too slow and too muddled. Haigh was right to say last week that “if you prioritise everything, then you’re prioritising nothing”. Have we finally found a minister who understands what “prioritise” and “priority” actually mean?

Not too fast…

Haigh announced that the requirements and conditions surrounding public procurement will be radically pared back. They will focus “ruthlessly” on how contracts, with foreign or domestic suppliers, create jobs, skills and opportunities in Britain. Current social value criteria account for 10 per cent of the scoring when contracts are assessed, while the new social-value-on-Ozempic requirements will make up 20 per cent.

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