One of the ways in which Monmouthshire County Council can support the local economy is by procuring goods and services locally. MCC is one of the biggest players in the local economy, spending nearly a quarter of a billion pounds every year. Of course, a lot of this goes on direct council services like schools, social care, highways and refuse collections. But the council has a lot of buying power in the services it contracts out to companies.

Residents were rightly disappointed last year when the council ended its long-running contract with Raglan Dairy, which had supplied milk and dairy products to the council’s schools, leisure centres and care homes. We knew exactly which farms the milk came from and the council was supporting local produce and a high-quality local business. Instead, the council started a contract with a national company, which was transporting milk from West Wales. After a massive public outcry, the council agreed to retender the contract.

Last month, I was nervous to discover that the council is re-tendering for the contract to provide local home care provision for elderly people in parts of Monmouthshire. There are concerns that the council could again potentially move provision away from a small reliable local business to a target-driven national supplier. With my colleague Cllr Lisa Dymock, I visited some residents who benefit from Lougher Home Care, which has delivered home care for the council in parts of Monmouthshire for 15 years and provides 1,000 hours of care every week.

We heard first-hand about the high standard of personalised care that residents receive and it was concerning to think that the quality service and the close relationship residents have with their carers could be at risk. Many vulnerable older people simply wouldn’t be able to live independently without the support of these brilliant carers. Instead, they would be forced into residential care at considerable cost to themselves or the taxpayer. It’s in everyone’s best interests that older people live independently for as long as they are safe to do so.

We don’t want to see the council make the same mistake again and ditch a quality local business in favour of cheaper, lower quality provision from generic national providers. Through its budget, the council has considerable buying power, but should invest that wisely and support local Monmouthshire businesses where possible. This way, the council is delivering on quality but also investing in the local economy.