LARAC Vice Chair and Policy Officer, Mark Foxall puts the LARAC view:
"The bidding timetable given by DCLG was challenging given the complex and detailed information required. Bidding local authorities rose to that challenge well providing good quality bids and so, particularly as the time in this financial year in which to deliver projects is diminishing, local authorities are disappointed that announcements on successful bids have not yet been made. Council budgets are currently being set for 2013/14, for those bidding authorities waiting upon a decision from DCLG their budget setting is proving problematic as uncertainty over service delivery remains.
There is a risk that authorities are deferring the implementation of service improvement changes not reliant on grant funding, whilst awaiting to hear whether their bid is successful or not. DCLG have already been advised by authorities that there is a risk that the supply chain may not be able to respond well to increased demand following grant awards. Vehicle and container suppliers are already quoting a 6 month lead time for some products and this is likely to increase with a sudden spike in demand. The outcome being that some projects may struggle to be delivered given the tight timetable DCLG has set and its delay in an announcement on bids."
