HC Deb 18 July 2003 vol 409 cc675-6W
Linda Perham

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what recent guidance he has given to local authorities on environmentally friendly procurement. [127780]

Phil Hope

Local authorities are responsible within the Law for making their own decisions on procurement. In doing so they will no doubt consider the case for environmentally friendly procurement, consistent with the European Union Procurement

(£000)
Region ERDF Spend 1 January 2001 to July 2003 2003 Allocation End December 2003 target 2004 Allocation End December 2004 target
North West (Merseyside) 15,970 81,394 84,590 71,948 82,929
South West (Cornwall and Scilly Isles) 12,973 27,576 27,820 24,873 27,453
Yorkshire and Humber (South Yorkshire) 16,591 71,542 74,387 63,311 72,965
East of England 5,704 13,367 21,954 11,695 13,691
East Midlands 11,710 32,181 52,512 28,208 32,916
London 11,660 21,387 31,385 19,585 21,153
North East 16,129 54,465 84,445 48,891 54,714
North West 48,168 75,988 133,287 64,270 79,739
South East 999 3,360 6,239 2,771 3,588
South West 5,938 14,505 23,056 12,861 14,711
West Midlands 23,426 66,701 121,788 56,768 69,695
Yorkshire and Humber 11,802 42,065 68,063 36,852 43,043
Total 181,069 504,532 729,526 442,032 516,595

Note:

All figures are in £000s. Allocations and targets (originally in Euros) are based on an average exchange rate since the beginning of the programmes (1 Euro =£0.628).

Directives and domestic law, which includes the duty of Best Value. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister set out its views on Best Value and procurement in Circular 03/2003. This included the Government's definition of Best Value as "the optimum combination of whole life costs and benefits to meet the customer's requirement."

This approach enables sustainability and quality to be taken into account when service delivery options are being considered.