News & Star coverage of Spend Small.
The findings come from Spend Small – the local authority spend index, compiled by the Centre for Entrepreneurs think tank and Spend Network, which analyses government spending.
It covers the period from April 2011 to March 2014.
Nationally, the 158 councils spent £89bn with the private sector. Of this, only £11.1bn was with small firms, 12.5 per cent.
The 20 largest suppliers captured 10.62 per cent of local authority spending.
They include the likes of Willmott Dixon, Kier, Capita, Balfour Beatty and Amey, all businesses that have performed major contracts for Cumbria County Council.