Sustainable Procurement

Sustainable Procurement allows organisations to meet their needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that continues to achieve value for money on a whole life basis while also generating benefits, not only for the organisation but also to society, the economy and the environment. Sustainable Procurement is compatible with local, national and European procurement regulations, and should always be considered when procuring goods and services for the public sector, alongside value for money and quality.

Sustainability in procurement involves looking at the impact each particular procurement exercise can make in the following areas:

Social

Please consider the social impact of your procurement in terms of Employment Opportunities; Equality & Human Rights, including the use of Fair Trade products; Social Inclusion; Accessibility for all.

Environmental

Please consider the opportunities in your procurement for: Emissions Reduction; Waste Reduction; use of Sustainable Raw Materials; Energy Reduction; avoidance of Habitat Reduction.

Economic

In each procurement please consider opportunities to improve supplier diversity and competitiveness, particularly among Small and Medium Enterprises where appropriate.

For more details of East Dunbartonshire Council’s approach to Sustainability have a look at the  Green Issues pages of the HUB.

Community Benefits

Community Benefit clauses are a method of obtaining sustainability from public contracts. A Community Benefit is a contractual requirement which delivers a wider social benefit in addition to the core purpose of the contract.

These might include:

• Targeted recruitment and training
• Business development for local small businesses or social enterprises
• Community engagement or investment.

Benefits might include the permanent employment of previously non-working people and/or contribute to the regeneration of deprived areas. Consideration of the inclusion of benefits clauses can also encourage the re-thinking of strategies and development of more innovative approaches.

All community benefit clauses must be considered on a case by case basis to establish suitability and capacity of the individual contract. They must be clearly mentioned in all tender documentation, and must be linked to the core purpose of the contract.

Monitoring of contract outcomes and deliverables is essential with any Community Benefit clause, to ensure contract compliance.

If you are considering the inclusion of Community Benefit clauses please discuss this with Corporate Procurement in the first instance.

Supported Businesses

One particular area of sustainability promoted by the Scottish Government is the use of Supported Businesses, where more than 30 per cent of the workers are disabled persons who by reason of the nature or severity of their disability are unable to take up work in the open labour market.

European laws, incorporated into Scottish law in 2012 (Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2012) make it possible for public bodies to reserve contracts for supported businesses, and it is Scottish Government policy that every public body should aim to have at least one contract with a supported factory or business.

Scottish Procurement have developed a reserved Framework Agreement which can be viewed on the Scottish Government website, which provides all Scottish public bodies an easier route to contracts with selected supported businesses and goods and services, divided into 4 Lots:

• Lot 1 - Furniture and Associated products
• Lot 2 - Document management
• Lot 3 - Textiles and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
• Lot 4 - Signs

For further advice on buying from Supported Businesses please contact Corporate Procurement.