Finance
Procurement. Another small word with big meaning. A cartoon might characterise the argument about procurement as scaling or bundling packages of works to be delivered cheaper, and seeding, creating conditions for local participation and local effects. The difference between the two is vast. Perhaps one way of understanding the difference is questioning the common good; what is the common good context in your place and how do you procure it?
The announcement in the last Budget of a 1% decrease in rents – instead of the consumer price index (CPI) +1% on which housing business plans had been based – has presented a real challenge to councils and housing associations alike. The cumulative impact is to make development schemes undeliverable and challenge whether plans of improvements to homes are affordable. Achieving better value for money is a mantra for us all, but what does and should this mean?
