Making Spend Matter Toolkit

Making Spend Matter is a network of 7 European cities (Preston (UK), Pamplona (Spain), Vila Nova de Famalicão (Portugal), Bistriţa (Romania), Kavala (Greece), Koszalin (Poland) and Schaerbeek (Belgium) that have worked together to take a more strategic approach to public procurement to enhance the sustainable impact of their public spend and help tackle social, economic, and environmental challenges.

The Making Spend Matter network forms one of 24 URBACT - Transfer Networks. These networks are a collection of European cities that come together to create, share, adapt and reuse Good Practice learning tools to promote integrated and sustainable urban development.

The Network has been funded by the URBACT III Programme through the European Regional Development Fund.

The Toolkit's four steps

The Making Spend Matter Toolkit brings together the guidance, lessons learned and recommendations from the network to enable other public organisations and cities to start their own strategic procurement journey.

From understanding the strategic importance of public procurement to analysing procurement spend and its impact, progressing practices and implementing change, the toolkit covers a range of best practice advice and tips around making spend matter.

Step 1: Understanding the strategic importance of public procurement

The following videos explain how public organisations can take a more strategic approach to public procurement to support the wellbeing of their communities, the resilience of the economy and the sustainability of the environment.

Behind the scenes of public procurement

How is your city using procurement to make public spend matter?

Step 2: Analysing public procurement spend

Are you a public organisation looking to create sustainable impact through public procurement?

Making Spend Matter and CLES (the national organisation for local economies) have the Tool and Guide to help you understand how you can take a more strategic approach to procurement spend to make a difference to places and communities.

The Tool and Guide aim to support this approach by using spend analysis as an evidence base to progress the way in which you think about and carry out public procurement and economic development activities.

Spend Analysis Tool

The Spend Analysis Tool provides a simple methodology to analyse procurement spend and better understand its scale, where it goes geographically, sectorally and with different types of suppliers.

To download the Spend Analysis Tool visit CLES - Making Spend Matter.

Spend Analysis Guide

The Making Spend Matter Spend Analysis Guide offers a step-by-step process on how to start your spend analysis and how to make the methodology your own, as well as how to use the tool and interpret the findings. The Guide also includes tips on how to take your spend analysis to the next level and progress your procurement journey.

Spend analysis guide (PDF) [4MB]

Step 3 - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and infographics

Our FAQs and infographics provide tips and guidance on a range of topics explored by the Making Spend Matter partners through the optional transfer including:

Step 4 - Transfer Network case studies

The Transfer Network case studies provide practical examples of how our partners carried out the following two processes to understand, explore and adapt the Good Practice into their cities:

Core transfer (basic spend analysis)
Optional transfer (advanced spend analysis, developing a strategic approach to public procurement, SME engagement and using social and environmental criteria)

What others are saying

"The transfer of Preston's Good Practice around spend analysis have enabled Pamplona to monitor and evaluate our procurement spend and to collect evidence about the impact of our procurement activities on the economy, the social welfare and the environment which in turn allows us to take better decisions and to support the city's strategy."
(The City of Pamplona, Spain)

"Preston's Good Practice provided a proofed and attractive method to undertake spend analysis. Schaerbeek was able to draw from Preston's 7 years of experience and findings to develop its own spend analysis methodology. This spend analysis approach forms now part of Schaerbeek's wider strategic plan to make the municipality a 'responsible consumer' with the objective to develop sustainable public procurement practices, support SMEs and local employment opportunities."
(The Municipality of Schaerbeek, Belgium)

Making Spend Matter Final Conference

Join us at the Making Spend Matter Final Conference to discover the next steps of the Making Spend Matter Toolkit.

For more details and how to register see Making Spend Matter Final Conference.

Share on social...

Join the movement and share your stories on social media using #MakingSpendMatter and #Strategicprocurement to raise awareness of the strategic role public procurement can play in shaping a better future!