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The use of public procurement policy to drive equality activity emerged from key informant interviews as a potentially significant measure in these sectors. During the 1980s some local authorities attempted to use public sector contracts to require

contractors to undertake equality measures, but these were stopped by legal changes in 1988 by the Conservative government that prevented local authorities from taking into account ‘non-commercial’ factors in the awarding of contracts (Dickens, 2007: 485). Following the election of a Labour government in 1997 there was a move away from the Thatcherite Conservative approach to procurement and a renewed interest in using procurement to achieve equality outcomes (McCrudden, 2009). Questions concerning the legality within European law of using procurement as part of the equality agenda have largely been resolved, according to McCrudden (2009). The Women and Work Commission (2006) noted the role procurement policy could play in addressing gender pay inequality and the TUC (2008b) called for greater action by government in using procurement to promote equality, particularly in relation to apprenticeships. (Measures to encourage the use of equality in procurement processes are discussed further in Wright (2011b)).

The Greater London Authority (GLA) has been actively using procurement to achieve its equality aims through its sustainable procurement policy produced in 2006 that seeks to ensure that procurement supports social, economic and environmental objectives that benefit London. The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA – part of the GLA ‘family’) has made promoting equality and diversity a requirement on all contractors for the Olympics 2012 within its procurement policy (ODA, 2007). During the tendering process, contractors are expected to indicate their approach to equality and diversity, and that they have understood the ODA’s policies. The successful tier one contractors – those with a direct contract with the ODA, rather than subcontractors – must

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demonstrate a commitment to equality and inclusion, by developing an equality action plan that is regularly monitored by the ODA, including monitoring their workforce, diversifying the supply chain and looking for opportunities to increase the numbers of women, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) and disabled people in their employment. According to the ODA key informant interviewee with an equality brief , the introduction of contractual requirements concerning equality was new to the

construction industry; in the past there were requirements linked to planning concerning the recruitment of local people, but having strategic aims about recruiting women or BAME staff was a new situation for them. However she believed that the pragmatism found in the industry is helpful: “They are used to trying to fix things, and it is in their contracts, so they want help to do it.” Help is offered through a ‘collaborative’ rather than a ‘big stick’ approach, and the ODA hopes that the equality monitoring processes introduced into the construction industry will be part of the legacy of the 2012

Olympics. The interviewee was happy with progress so far, but recognised its

limitations in that they had no direct influence over tier two and three contractors who employ a large part of the workforce, and with whom the ODA does not have a direct contractual relationship:

“We encourage, coax and cajole, but there is no stick that we can use, as we could with tier one contractors, although we have never had to.” (Key informant, equalities, ODA)

The procurement policies of Transport for London (TfL, part of the GLA) also appeared to be providing a spur to companies to take an interest in equality. The interviewee from the Women into Non-Traditional Occupations (WINTO) project said that the motivation for some employers to get involved in the project was because their contracts with TfL required them monitor and improve their proportions of women in employment. Companies were therefore willing to offer ‘taster days’ to allow women to try out non- traditionally female roles. The presence of several highway engineering and

maintenance companies that had contracts with TfL at a WINTO event to encourage women into transport jobs that I attended confirmed this, where a manager from one firm spoke about being audited on equality by TfL, requiring them to look at

underrepresented groups. Thus procurement policies containing equality requirements may support wider efforts to raise awareness of non-traditional work among women, as well as more directly contributing to employment opportunities for women.

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TfL’s contracting procedures for the £1 billion East London Line rail construction project also incorporated equality requirements. As part of the invitation to tender, contractors had to demonstrate that they could deliver equality and supply-chain diversity effectively before getting through to the final bidding stage (Godwin, 2009). Contractors were expected take steps to ensure that the ethnic and gender composition of the workforce was representative of the local communities in East London. However, progress was slow as women did not have the industry qualifications; only two per cent of those working on site at the end of 2007 were female (Godwin, 2009). Interviewee, Cheryl, an electrician, had gained a work placement on the project. She welcomed the experience of working on a large construction site, even though she found the placement too generic and in the end felt that she was not gaining the necessary experience to complete her NVQ level 3 qualification. She commented that the company who offered her the placement had been keen to hire women, and it seems likely that the equality requirements introduced into the procurement process were an impetus in providing the work experience that women often find so difficult to get, as shown above.

Now fully qualified and looking for work, Cheryl was hoping to benefit from the requirement for the London Olympics to employ local people. She believed, too, that being a woman might work in her favour with the larger companies who were

concerned to implement their equality commitments. Participants in the WAMT focus group also believed that “it’s a good time for women now” as “employers want to be seen to be diverse”, and they “want to fly the flag for equality”. Thus it seems that employer discourses of valuing diversity in their workforces are reaching at least one target audience, although there is some scepticism too.

Interviewee Sarah is an engineer on a station improvement project contracted by TfL, and said that her employer, a large construction company, had been required in the tendering process to produce statistics on employee diversity, noting that her firm had better figures than average for the industry. However she commented wryly on the jokes circulating within the organisation:

“If you’re a girl in [employer] you are going to end up on the front cover of some publication at some point or other, and we all have been, every single woman that I know has been in the video or on the front of the annual report or in the calendar or something. They go ‘Excellent, more girls, let’s photograph you and make it look like we’re diverse’, so it looks as though there’s a ridiculous proportion of ethnic minorities and women who work for us and no white men at all!” (Heterosexual, civil engineer, construction, 20s)

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Such comments reflect a view that contractual requirements relating to equality may mean that companies simply get better at trying to ‘look diverse’, when the reality is very different. This concern is addressed in the LDA’s monitoring processes, according to key informant interviewee from the LDA Equalities team, who believed that

commercial imperatives were a powerful tool to meet equality objectives:

“It works, it really does work. It makes a difference. When people want your money, they get interested in equality”. (Key informant, equalities, LDA)

But she noted that monitoring by the body awarding the contracts was key to successful outcomes, so that it was not simply ‘ticking boxes’.

“So even if they do just tick the right box to get the money, if we’ve got the right people in our delivery and contract management teams and we’re training them, and they have equality targets. So if they do have to have 30 per cent of their clients to be BAME or 10 per cent women, then when we’re there having monitoring meetings and asking them what they are doing, that’s where the quality comes in [...] But good project managers are saying, how are you doing it? What are you doing? Here’s a toolkit.”

Monitoring of this kind, though, requires political commitment and resources. While this was in evidence at the LDA at the time of the interview, it remains to be seen whether its successor body will give priority to equality work.