Pembrokeshire County Council devoted 45 per cent of all its council expenditure in 2010/11 to businesses in Pembrokeshire - the highest proportion of any local authority in Wales.

New figures from the Welsh Government also show that over the same period, Pembrokeshire County Council achieved the highest proportion of Welsh procurement of all public sector bodies in Wales (70 per cent).

This compares to a local authority average of 54 per cent. For the Welsh Government, the equivalent was 55 per cent.

Pembrokeshire's figures have been welcomed by Jane Hutt, the Welsh Government's Finance Minister.

She said: "An important recommendation of the McClelland review is that we promote areas of good approaches to procurement so that other public bodies can learn from the success of others.

"Pembrokeshire is a good example of a local authority that has made its procurement opportunities open and accessible, resulting in a good proportion of contracts being won by smaller, more local suppliers."

Council leader, Clr. Jamie Adams, said: "Our procurement team strive very hard to maximise opportunities for local suppliers and businesses to bid for our work, and they have clearly risen to that challenge.

"This has contributed to us driving up the amount spent locally by more than 10 per cent in the last seven years - equating to an average of £15m extra spent in the local economy per annum."

The county council's own calculation of local spend for 2010/ 2011 was even higher at 50.48 per cent, because it categorises expenditure with larger companies with a base in Pembrokeshire who employ local people as 'local' spend - even though the invoice postcode is outside Pembrokeshire.

The council-calculated figure for 2011/2012 shows a further rise at 51.07 per cent.

Services and goods supplied by local businesses to the county council are varied and can include school transport, highways maintenance, home care for the elderly and more.

One of the high value categories is catering, where five out of the council's seven food suppliers are based in Pembrokeshire - the other two are Welsh. Our total food bill during the last financial year was over £1.4 million and food is provided in schools, day care centres, and other council buildings.

Clr. David Pugh, cabinet member for economy, tourism and communities, said the council's co-ordinated approach to procurement over the last ten years had paid dividends.

"As well as holding general and tender-specific 'meet the buyer' events, we have a single point of contact for all procurement queries, one-to-one tender debriefs for unsuccessful Pembrokeshire bidders, and an annual Pembrokeshire Business Development Plan," he said.

"We also have a close working relationship with the Welsh Government's Supplier Development Service, which offers free one-to-one assistance with tender submissions to businesses with limited experience in this field."

Head of procurement Paul Ashley-Jones said local businesses have been keen to engage in the procurement process.

"They have been eager to take up new technology and new ways of working, including the purchase card which is the council's preferred method of payment for low value purchases," he said.

"The council has also adopted electronic tendering across the board, which has been popular and is simpler and quicker for the businesses involved."

He added that a recent review of procurement activity in Wales by John McClelland on behalf of the Welsh Government reported that 'local government, with a high overall proportion of its very significant procurement expenditure being spent with Wales-based companies, makes a very positive impact on the Welsh economy'.