With UK councils spending around £80bn annually with third parties – on average, 30-40% of individual authorities' total budget – procurement plays an important role in local government.

A recent major research project, Optimising Outcomes from Procurement and Partnering during COVID-19 and Beyond: lessons from the crisis, looked at how greater value could be created and retained from this huge expenditure, where even 1-2% extra value could be highly significant.