Procurement
The Council’s Sustainable Procurement and Commercial Strategy 2020 -2025 aims to maximise the benefits of procurement, putting sustainability at the heart of the procurement programme for the next five years. Sustainability delivered through Council spend will help promote the economic, environmental and social outcomes that support growth, and address those challenges the city is facing.
The strategy includes the following actions to support these aims:
- For procurement exercises with a total value of over £50k, service areas must undertake an Integrated Impact Assessment during the early planning stages;
- Equalities considerations and requirements are incorporated in all tender documents from the planning stage to contract award;
- The terms and conditions of our contracts require service providers and any sub-contractors to deliver services in a non-discriminatory way that ensures fairness and equality to all users of the services; as well as to comply with the Council’s policies on equality and all relevant laws. The terms and conditions provide for information on protected characteristics in relation to employment and service users to be provided on request.
- Procurement is used to influence and increase positive fair work and socially responsible outcomes by inclusion in the evaluation criteria which aims to benefit the city by addressing poverty and inequality. The evaluation of bids includes consideration of the bidder’s context, including the size of the organisation.
- Council grant conditions require organisations to commit to mainstreaming equality and rights in accordance with the , in employing staff and volunteers and in providing services; and we require organisations when requested to show how they meet the Public Sector Equality Duty
- The Council’s approach to community benefits helps to ensure that those with protected characteristics benefit from these clauses. The ‘Cenefits’ system allow enhanced monitoring of community benefits with reference to promoting protected characteristics or to other priority groups such as those living in poverty, for example the long term unemployed.