Responsible Procurement

 
 

“Responsible Procurement for NEUPC means how we ensure that environmental, social and economic considerations are included in all of our activity on behalf of our members”. 

Frank Rowell, Head of Consortium

The Social Value Act (2012) places responsibilities on contracting authorities in the Public Sector to consider economic, social and environmental well-being prior to designing procurement exercises. Whilst it is not mandatory for NEUPC and our member universities to incorporate it into our tenders, with a collaborative spend of over £400m in 2018/19, it is widely acknowledged that we can contribute positively to the delivery of greater equality and social inclusion as well as broader sustainability goals.

In late 2019/2020 NEUPC undertook a survey with members to review the Social Value TOMs, widely used by Local Authorities and some Government departments and consider which social value measurements would be appropriate for our Frameworks. We used this feedback as well as the Government’s consultation paper on social value to develop a new Responsible Procurement and Social Value Policy.
 
In February 2020, NEUPC became the first HE purchasing consortia to achieve the CIPS Corporate Ethics Mark in recognition of our commitment to ethical procurement and ensuring that our procurement staff undertake mandatory annual e-learning and test to ensure currency of knowledge.

Contacts for sustainability issues:

Debbie Shore (NEUPC) [email protected]

 

NEUPC Sustainability Group Chair and Membership are shown in the Sustainability Category Group page.