SUPPLY CHAIN
HOW UK PUBLIC POLICY BECAME A BENCHMARK FOR INDIRECT PROCUREMENT WORLDWIDE
The public-private sector in the United Kingdom has become a breeding ground for advocates of social value and sustainable procurement . Requirements from the UK government to encourage and demonstrate social value are particularly weighted to establishing it in indirect procurement
WRITTEN BY : BLAISE HOPE
Indirect procurement - goods and services procured for internal use and operations , rather than directly to serve a customer or client ( e . g . office supplies , maintenance ) - is crucial to these changes . Rather than simply showing a coffee consumer a company ’ s beans are Fair Trade , a roaster providing coffee to a council will have to provide a detailed pipeline for all its procurement if it is to be eligible for government tender .
This makes indirect procurement visible to everyone , a big change for a sector that has historically drawn less attention , despite its size , and one that first came through legislation .
The Social Value Act and then the National Procurement Policy Statement ( NPPS ) are already landmarks in the history of sustainable procurement . Fears that they would become an onerous strain on businesses have failed to materialise . The embedding of social value has instead become an issue of corporate and consumer concern and the laws themselves now seem prescient - ahead of its time , but coming in at the right time , too .
108 March 2022