The Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) is to join the Local Government Association’s Strategic Supplier Relationship Management (SSRM) initiative to help improve local government procurement of infrastructure.

CECA represents contractors who build, maintain and upgrade the UK’s vital infrastructure networks. The LGA’s SSRM initiative aims to encourage supply chain innovation, add value and promote transparency in local government procurement to deliver optimal outcomes for clients and, ultimately, the taxpayer.

Marie-Claude Hemming, CECA director of external affairs, said: “We look forward to engaging closely with the LGA as a strategic partner in seeking to improve infrastructure procurement in England.

“Over the past few years CECA’s procurement group have been working on practical steps that may be taken to drive efficiencies and optimise outcomes at all stages of the procurement process, and this partnership with the LGA, based on a number of years of collaboration, is the natural next step in this workstream.

“It is through collaborative working of this sort that we can arrive at a better understanding of issues facing the construction and infrastructure market throughout the procurement process, and take steps to address them.”

Peter Fleming, chairman of the LGA’s improvement and innovation board, said: “We are pleased to be working with CECA and their members on improving procurement of infrastructure related projects.

“Reducing costs has been at the heart of the work the LGA has been delivering with councils though its Strategic Supplier Relationship Manager initiative which has helped improve innovation and efficiency, and forms a major part of the LGA’s sector-led improvement offer.

“With a collective annual spend of around £7billion on highways and transport this represents a key opportunity for councils, working with CECA, to take more strategic view of how we can improve together.”