Central Bedfordshire Council has beaten off national opposition to win a top prize at a prestigious national awards ceremony.
The council took the award for Best Customer Engagement Initiative of the Year at the Government Opportunities (GO) Excellence in Public Procurement Awards with their Extra Care procurement project.
The project aims to achieve savings of approximately £1 million over the next five years through engaging experienced external providers to deliver high quality services to customers in Extra Care Sheltered Housing Schemes. This enables the council to redeploy staff to support other critical services.
Residents and relatives were consulted throughout the project and were directly involved in the tendering process.
Cllr Hegley, Executive Member for Social Care, Health and Housing was delighted that the hard work of everyone involved in the project has been recognised at a national level, she said: “This project has been a successful example of how we can work in partnership with staff, customers and external providers to ensure that we provide high quality and cost effective services.
“The residents and families were closely involved with the project and have told us that they felt empowered and valued throughout the process.”
The National Go Awards recognise and reward excellence and achievement in the public procurement sector to organisations that can demonstrate best practice and innovation.