Navigating Procurement in Local Government: A Sea of Uncertainty

The theme of the 2024 Local Government Procurement conference, “Create Ripples, Ride the Wave”, feels very familiar to anyone working in council procurement. Requirements are shifting, risks are evolving and expectations on procurement teams continue to grow – all while resources remain tight.

In many ways, procurement and contract management in local government is like navigating unpredictable seas. Tides change quickly, conditions can turn without warning and staying on course requires the right vessel, tools and crew.

To stay afloat and move forward with confidence, councils need processes and systems that support consistency, transparency and smarter decision-making.

Compliance: Staying on Course

One of the biggest challenges we hear from councils is keeping buyers aligned with evolving rules. Procurement teams must juggle legislation, internal policy, environmental commitments and social procurement goals, often with limited capacity and growing workloads.

It’s simply not realistic for central procurement to be involved in every purchase. Instead, they need ways to embed good practice into everyday buying so staff can work independently while still following the right path.

Tools like VendorPanel’s Guide module allow lengthy policies to be turned into simple, step-by-step workflows. Buyers answer a few key questions – about value, risk, category and other factors – and receive clear instructions on how to go to market in a compliant way. That keeps activity on course without overloading the procurement team.

Driving Value

Budget pressure and rising costs feel like constant waves hitting the side of the boat. Councils are expected to deliver more with less, while still meeting high standards of quality, probity and sustainability.

Managing all quote-based sourcing through a central, structured platform helps. VendorPanel’s Go to Market module, for example, brings RFQs and tenders into one place, standardising processes and making it easier to compare offers on value rather than only price.

With consistent data and reporting across events, procurement teams can see where cost avoidance is being achieved, track benefits over time and demonstrate the impact of their work in a way that resonates with leadership.

Supplier Management

Managing supplier relationships can feel like navigating through narrow channels – there’s opportunity, but also risk if you drift off course. Councils must keep track of insurances, compliance documents, performance, milestones and communication, often across hundreds or thousands of suppliers.

A structured supplier management approach supports safer navigation. Within VendorPanel, councils can:

• Onboard suppliers consistently and capture the information they need up front.
• Create and maintain preferred supplier lists aligned to policy.
• Automate reminders for expiring certificates and key documents.
• Track RFQ communications within the platform instead of in scattered inboxes.

Where contract management modules are in place, councils can also record KPIs, track milestones and monitor performance over time – giving greater visibility of contractual obligations and supplier health.

Local Supplier Engagement

Recent years have highlighted how vulnerable global supply chains can be. Natural disasters, geopolitical tensions and market shocks can all disrupt the delivery of essential goods and services – leaving councils scrambling for alternatives.

Strengthening local supplier engagement is one way to build resilience. With access to a broad marketplace of suppliers and tools to search by location or category, councils can identify businesses in their own LGA and neighbouring areas, support local economies and diversify their supply base.

Policies such as mandatory consideration of local suppliers at higher thresholds show where the trend is heading. Councils who get ahead of these expectations now will be better prepared as new mandates emerge.

Conclusion

In uncertain waters, the goal is not to control the sea, but to steer confidently through it. For local government procurement, that means having clear processes, user-friendly tools and good visibility of activity and risk.

With the right combination of policy, technology and collaboration, councils can stay compliant, deliver better value and build stronger supplier relationships – even as conditions shift around them. If you’re ready to move from surviving the waves to using them to your advantage, it may be time to review how your procurement and contract management tools are supporting the journey.