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| With Cllr Derrick Louis and his advisor Hannah. |
Some good news for Harlow taxpayers, small businesses, and young people today.
This morning I met with Cllr Derrick Louis (see the photo above). Derrick has just led a major project to use public procurement at Essex County Council - not only to drive down costs, and to help local firms, but to hire Essex apprentices as well.
Here are the headlines:
1) A saving of £150 million pounds a year - helping Essex to keep the Council tax down for Harlow residents.
2) More local firms winning contracts - the number of Essex and Harlow firms getting business with the County Council has increased from 39% in 2009, by tens of millions of pounds, to 44%.
3) 200 new apprenticeships have been created in local industries like road-building, waste disposal, facilities management, construction, and more across the whole county.
This just shows that it can be done. The Government can save money, help British firms, and create jobs for young people all the same time.
Cllr Derrick Louis is an inspiration. His work is a credit to him, and a credit to the County Council. Let's hope that his work can be rolled out across the UK.
by Robert Halfon - www.roberthalfon.blogspot.com
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