I was successful today in getting a review of procurement practices and councillor involvement on Durham County Council.

Following the issues about the bin contract, I checked back at the review of what information and access councillors should be getting in relation to contracts and tendering at county hall and discovered that many of the recommendations from two years ago had simply never been carried through. I now have agreement that there will be a full review of this to make sure that councillors get regular updates and can comment on procurement issues, which will hopefully lead to more positive new in the future.

This could include making sure that local companies have more chance of tendering for contracts, or local jobs being part of future requirements in terms. Some of this has already happened. The main problem up to now has been that councillors have simply not had any involvement whatsoever, with no updates on upcoming contracts. I look forward to a positive step forward. It is just a shame that all of these things only seem to get action when there is an embarrassment for the council in the press.