Every so often a speech comes along that changes the direction of a debate.

Andy Burnham’s recent speech on Manchesterism feels like one of those moments.

For those of us who have spent years arguing that public procurement should do more than simply buy services at the lowest price, it is exciting to hear a vision built around Good Work, place, community, resilience and hope.

Hope in every heart. Good growth in every British postcode. Nurtured from the bottom up.

This is more than an economic strategy. It is a different way of thinking about public power.

For too long, much public procurement has rewarded the lowest price, creating a race to the bottom in wages, job quality and long-term investment.

Social value has been an important step forward. It challenged the idea that public contracts should be judged on price alone and encouraged commissioners to consider the wider social, economic and environmental benefits that public spending can create.

Manchester has built on that foundation. The Council recognises the inherent social value of organisations which consistently invest in people, pay the Real Living Wage, support communities and reduce their environmental impact. These create value through the way they operate every day, not simply through additional commitments made during a tender. That is an important and welcome development, co-designed with community organisations.

But perhaps the most important thing about Manchesterism is not what it says about economics, but what it says about people.

It starts from the belief that communities already possess strengths that can be built upon. We share that belief. We see people and communities not as problems to be managed or resources to be extracted, but as assets with the capacity to contribute. The role of public policy is to create the conditions in which people, communities and nature can flourish together.

If our ambition is to create stronger places, then public spending should be designed around the needs of the people, communities, local economies and natural environment that make those places unique. Procurement is one of the most powerful ways of turning that ambition into reality.

Once we start with place, procurement becomes much more than a purchasing exercise. It becomes a way of shaping markets that build stronger communities and more resilient local economies, creating a mixed economy of public, community and private organisations where everyone has the opportunity to contribute.

None of this underestimates the pressures facing public authorities. They are being asked to do more with fewer resources while demand for public services continues to grow exponentially. That is precisely why this debate matters. The challenge is not simply how much public money we spend, but how we spend it. By raising standards, keeping more public investment circulating within local economies and designing services that prevent problems – rather than simply responding (or not responding) to them – procurement can become part of rebuilding stronger places while regenerating the economy.

A standard grounds maintenance contract, for example, need no longer be simply about maintaining parks and open spaces. It could meet local strategies to increase biodiversity, improve climate resilience, create opportunities for local people far removed from the labour market, provide supported employment, strengthen community pride and support healthier neighbourhoods. These outcomes would not be optional extras. They could become the purpose of the service, changing the very nature of the services that are currently delivered and creating dynamic public services.

For years we have asked how procurement can buy better services. Manchesterism encourages us to ask a bigger question. How can public spending help build better places, stronger local economies and healthier communities?

If public spending can create Good Work, strengthen communities and help places flourish, then procurement is no longer simply about purchasing services. It becomes one of the principal ways in which we shape the future we want to share.

The next generation of procurement reform will not be judged simply by how efficiently we buy services, but by how effectively public spending helps people, communities and places flourish.

That is the challenge for the next generation of procurement reform.

We call it Public Good Procurement.