Sustainable Public Procurement

Jo Mitchell Scottish Procurement and Commercial Directorate March 2011

Procurement Value for Money Triangle

Improve the quality of public services and the ease of access for suppliers Deliver savings and value for money

Capability Competitiveness Capturing Savings & Benefits Coverage Collaboration Corporate Social Responsibility Communication

Buy Sustainably

Technology for Reform

• Scottish Procurement Information Hub- Collect spend data to identify where collaborative may opportunities exist and where transactional efficiencies could be made.

• Public Contracts Scotland – Access to contracts and collect contract data • Best Practice Indicators (BPIs) - Performance Data • eProcurement Scotland – encourage contract compliance in organisations; faster delivery of goods and services and quicker payment of suppliers

Procurement Journey

Processes, templates and guides to support all levels of procurement activity.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/procurementjourneyhome

Sustainable Public Procurement

Scottish Sustainable Procurement Action Plan: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement/policy/corporate responsibility Sustainable Procurement Delivery Plan: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Government/Procurement/policy/corporate responsibility/procurementdelplan

Legislation and Sustainable Public Procurement in Scotland

• • • •

Local Government Scotland Act 2003

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2003/1/contents

The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2006, regulation 39 states:

http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/ssi/ssi2006/ssi_20060001_en_1

Scotland Climate Change Act 2009

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Environment/climatechange/scotl ands-action/climatechangeact

Housing (Scotland) Act 2010. Part 2 Section 24d

http://www.oqps.gov.uk/legislation/acts/acts2010/pdf/asp_20100017 _en.pdf

Scottish National Sustainable Public Procurement Training Programme

Community Benefits in Public Procurement

• Contracting authorities may have a legal and policy basis for incorporating community benefit requirements into their procurement processes. • The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 confers “well-being” powers on local authorities facilitating their scope to implement Community Benefit clauses in a way which meets their sustainable development responsibilities. • The scope for other public bodies will depend on their particular frameworks e.g. RSLs • Best Value or Value for Money remains the overarching principle.

7

The first question that we should ask when developing any contract specification should be: ‘Can we include a Community Benefit clause?’"

John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, March 2010

Types of Community benefits

•

Targeted Recruitment and Training (providing employment and training opportunities)

• SME and Social Enterprise development • Community engagement

The Scottish Government Energy Assistance Package

• There is a strong association between income and fuel poverty. • All households with an average weekly income of less than £100 have a high probability of being fuel poor regardless of other factors.

• The Government’s objective is to increase the opportunities for employment thereby increasing income and reducing poverty. • Maximising the employment potential of this contract for new labour market entrants and people who are disadvantaged in the labour market ,will reduce the number of Scottish Households that are fuel poor.

10

The Scottish Government Energy Assistance Package

• In addition to providing more energy efficient homes to those who need them most, the contract included a commitment to: • Creation of three Green Skills Academies in Scotland; • Training and recruitment of new entrants to the employment market.

11

•

Procurement Process

Contract Notice (Advert):

– Include Community Benefit as core to the subject matter of the contract •

PQQ requirement:

– Demonstrate where you have delivered or been involved in the delivery of a skill relating to community benefits using specific examples e.g. training of new staff, training of existing staff, supplier development.

•

ITT requirement:

– Demonstrate the Community Benefit to be achieved through the delivery of this contract and the overall management process •

Contract Management

– Implement and Monitor clauses

Who’s Using Community Benefit Clauses

• Central Government - Scottish Government contracts for the national Energy Assistance Package and the Scottish Crime Campus • Health Boards: Greater Glasgow and Clyde contract for the new Southern General Hospital (target of 250 new entrants trainees and Social enterprise development in catering, recycling and transport sectors) • Local Authorities - Glasgow City Council for Commonwealth Games contracts (current contractual commitment of over 160 new entrant trainees) • Regeneration Organisations - Raploch Urban Regeneration Company, Stirling (contractual commitment of 225 new entrant trainees) • Registered Social Landlords - Glasgow Housing Association (to date more than 1500 new opportunities created including over 400 apprenticeships)

Practical Hints

• Map out the key people across the organisation who can contribute to scoping the social requirements • Identify the sustainable procurement champions • Choose social requirements you can monitor • Consider evaluation criteria and weighting • Think how payment relates to delivery • Think through sanctions for breach of social clauses

Sources of Help and Advice

The Scottish Government

‘Ready For Business’

http://www.readyforbusiness.org/index.php

Programme:

Targeted Recruitment and Training :

•Regeneration Agencies •Sector Skills Councils, e.g. Construction Skills ( http://www.cskills.org/contact us/scotlandsouth.aspx

) Advertising sub-contracting opportunities is also achieving opportunities for a wide range of businesses including social enterprises

SME and Social Enterprises:

•Public Contracts Scotland ( http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/ ) •Supplier Development Programme •Ready for Business (see above) •Business organisations