UNISON branch officers engaging in the debate on local government job cuts will find useful arguments in the APSE/CLES/INLOGOV publication: ‘creating resilient local economies: exploring the economic footprint of public services’.
http://www.cles.org.uk/files/102868/FileName/EXECUTIVESUMMARYFootprints.pdf
The foreword states ‘Public spending can have a significant impact in nurturing, supporting and driving the local economy. But it is even more important in turbulent economic times that the public sector provides an anchor upon which a resilient local economy can be founded in order to for instance, build local supply chains, create pathways into skills and training and provide a bulwark against the worst consequences of global economic forces.
'This research represents an important contribution to our understanding of the role that the public economy can play in building resilient local economies and shows the value that a local authority commercial services department plays in terms of both its procurement and employment spend in maximising the effect of public spending in the local economy.’
