Setting the challenge

The Scottish Sustainable Procurement Conference and Exhibition was the first event of its kind to fully embrace the Scottish public sector’s drive towards more sustainable procurement, explains Government Opportunities (GO) Features Editor Morven MacNeil.

Sustainable procurement can take on a variety of titles, including sustainable development in procurement, green procurement, corporate social responsibility in procurement, and responsible purchasing. In broad terms it means taking full account of environmental, social and economic factors in public procurement.

The Scottish Government, responsible for an annual spend of £8 billion, has been proactive in creating a responsible procurement agenda and the Scottish public sector continues to engage directly with suppliers to secure a greener future for Scotland.

‘Maintaining the Future’ – the Government Opportunities (GO) Scottish Sustainable Procurement Conference and Exhibition 2008, held recently at the Carlton Hilton Hotel, Edinburgh – was the ideal platform for speakers to update delegates on the progress of the sustainable procurement agenda and impart advice on how delegates could best implement sustainability practices within their procurement remit.

Speakers included John Swinney MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, Scottish Government; Shaun McCarthy, Director, Action Sustainability; and Dave Cook, Policy Manager, Scottish Procurement Directorate

Chairing the conference was Grahame Steed, Managing Editor of GO magazine. He stressed the importance of both the public and the private sector supporting the sustainability agenda, saying: “If the public sector has sustainability as a concern, then so too must the supplier community and even end users of the public services. This is an issue that affects us all.

“I think the importance of sustainability is really now being driven home as we feel the impact (for example rising oil prices) in our pocket. And while nobody welcomes the increasing cost of running our homes, businesses and the public sector estate, nor the cost of fuelling our public or private transport, perhaps the price increases in fuel have been the wake-up call that we’ve been waiting for in order to help push sustainability issues from the background further into the foreground.

“Sustainability has to be considered as a core part of procurement exercises, and not as an afterthought. There is also a great deal of optimism that both the public and private sectors are now actively engaging in addressing sustainability issues.”

John Swinney explained how the Government is trying to approach the various issues around procurement and sustainability. Mr Swinney highlighted the basic elements underpinning the Government’s approach to procurement and sustainability – including the challenge of climate change.

On the issue of climate change, he added: “We’ve said that by 2050 we want to reduce emissions in Scotland by 80 per cent. It’s a very ambitious target, and will be enshrined in legislation during 2009-10 by the Scottish Parliament. Tackling climate change cannot be taken forward just by one portfolio of government. My cabinet colleagues are equally responsible for tackling climate change. That sense of common ownership around the cabinet table also needs to be replicated across the public sector so that all of us have the obligation to play our part in taking forward the agenda that supports climate change.

“None of these three major pillars of our thinking that go into tackling the issue of Scottish sustainable procurement will be able to be taken forward if the whole issue of procurement is compartmentalised and parcelled away into the periphery of public sector organisations.”

Later in the year the Government will be issuing the Scottish Sustainable Procurement Action Plan, which will underline the Government’s commitment to a sustainable Scotland. It will explain how each organisation can improve its performance on sustainable procurement and show just how its performance compares to best practice.

Shaun McCarthy stressed that government policy reflects scientific evidence on the need to reduce carbon emissions and maintain the consumption of resources at a sustainable rate. He explained that the Sustainable Procurement Task Force defines sustainable procurement as ‘using procurement to support wider social, economic and environmental objectives in ways providing real long-term benefit’. The task force was established in May 2005, charged with drawing up an action plan to bring about a step-change in sustainable public procurement so that the UK is among the leaders in the EU by 2009.

He also informed delegates that the UK is responsible for two per cent of the world’s carbon footprint, adding: “We need to think very hard about sustainable consumption and production as well as energy use.”

He concluded: “Procurement professionals still have a long way to go. There is an urgency to grasp this agenda; we’ve known about this since 2005, and need to move very quickly from inspiration to perspiration.”

Each speaker at the conference made it clear that there is much work to be done with regards to sustainability. The public sector, working with its private sector partners, has a fundamental role to play in turning things around.