E6 Inclusion of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in e-procurement programme, in order to promote the advantages of e-procurement to local suppliers and retain economic development benefits within the local community. Heads of Finance / Economic Development Access to wider market of buyers for the individual SME. Increased employment opportunities and quality of life for citizens. In some cases, direct advice and support from the local authority. Community leadership Increased success of local business, generating local employment and meeting economic development and regeneration objectives.

This outcome is a voluntary one agreed by high performing councils as part of the IEG3 grant claim process.

To fulfil the requirements of this outcome, councils will need to determine which SMEs the council already does business with. They should also identify whether there are significant numbers of SMEs offering relevant goods and services that are not currently trading with the council.

They will need to gather information from SMEs and their representative organisations about the progress SMEs have made in e-enabling their organisations, and what challenges the wider adoption of e-procurement by the council would present to them.

Finally, they should develop a supplier engagement programme to communicate the potential benefits of e-procurement and to highlight the support available to help SMEs to e-enable their organisations. This programme should be in line with the council's broader objectives for economic development and regeneration.

This outcome will only apply to councils that have volunteered to undertake it.

Identify appropriate SME's in local area Understand barriers to wider adoption of e-procurement Develop SME engagement programme

National e-Procurement Project http://www.nepp.org.uk

The national project on Working with Business (www.workingwithbusiness.org.uk).

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