Sustainable procurement: the duty on contracting authorities to ‘do the right thing’

The rules around procurement can be a dry topic for many people, but one of the most interesting recent developments is the growing focus on sustainability with supply chains – particularly where public money is involved. With Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations now driving decision making in many areas of the economy and society, the sustainable procurement duty placed on public bodies has never been more important. 

This duty is under more scrutiny than ever, and was the subject of a recent event my colleague Jill Fryer delivered for people involved in public procurement. 

While being sustainable and enhancing your reputation is clearly a ‘nice to have’ for any organisation in the current climate, it is also a ‘must have’ for contracting authorities in procurement exercises that meet certain criteria. There is some discretion and how to observe this duty but it’s clear that doing so has benefits for the local economy and the environmental wellbeing of an area – encouraging innovation and the participation of SMEs in the supply chain among other things. 

At the very least it is food for thought as we all work towards similar goals.