Catering for change: buying food sustainably in the public sector

Does the contract account for relevant sustainable development policies? Does it take advantage of the social, economic and environmental principles of sustainable procurement which support the delivery of Government policies, Community Planning and Community Health Partnerships and other organisational objectives, to produce wider community benefits?

Consider Scottish Government and Local Policy & Guidance such as the:

• Sustainable Procurement Action Plan ¹⁵
• The Duty of Best Value, Guidance and Policies of your organisation
• The Single Outcome Agreement and Community Health Partnerships.
• National Food and Drink Policy ¹⁶
• The Procurement Journey ¹⁷

Procurement strategies used by Public Sector organisations should place an appropriate importance on sustainability and take full advantage of the scope in procurement legislation for progressing sustainability through public procurement activity.

Does the contract commit to continuous improvement to improve sustainability with existing suppliers?

Sustainable Procurement Action Plan.

The Procurement Journey

Will tenders be assessed for general sustainability risks which can be identified, for example risks to continuity of supply, or risks of a supplier working contrary to social, economic, environmental or health interests.

Sustainable Procurement Action Plan.

The Procurement Journey

Does the contract evaluation consider the 'whole life cost' of food and drinks and the balance between price, quality, and sustainability, including energy and environmental costs, health and climate change?

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 ¹⁸

Sustainable Procurement Action Plan.

The Procurement Journey

Is this a MEAT evaluation and in the evaluation is there an appropriate weighting achieved between competitive price, quality and sustainability criteria in order to uphold the value of sustainably produced food and drinks?

National Food and Drink Policy ¹⁹

The Procurement Journey

Procurement organisations should work actively to engage SMEs and Social Enterprises in order to increase competition for contracts. Has the development of the tender benefited from dialogue, meet the buyer events and other examples of effective communication? Has engagement been pursued in advance? Is there effective engagement with the wholesale food service sector as major purchasers and distributors of food and drinks which underlines the importance of sustainable procurement for public bodies?

Sustainable Procurement Action Plan

National Food and Drink Policy

The Procurement Journey

Has the contract been publicised adequately in advance to allow food producers and suppliers to forward plan?

National Food and Drink Policy

To increase competition has consideration been given to dividing the requirement into lots, for example by product and/or defined geographical area?

National Food and Drink Policy

The Procurement Journey

Has consideration been given to collaboration with other public bodies? Do collaborative arrangements exist, or can they be put in place, which might deliver sustainability benefits as well as the advantages of scale and competitive pricing?

Sustainable Procurement Action Plan

National Food and Drink Policy

The Procurement Journey

Do food requirements optimise the use of fresh, nutritious and seasonal food?

National Food and Drink Policy

Does the specification require fish and shellfish from sustainable and well managed sources, and has this been checked against independent sustainable certification schemes?

Scotland's fishing industry operates a licensed, regulated and well managed industry which operates fully within the scope of the EU Common Fisheries

Policy. A number of Scotland's fisheries have, in addition to this, attained optional independent sustainable certification for herring, mackerel, langoustine, haddock & mussels and further fisheries for herring, lobster, langoustine, crab and scallops are currently undertaking certification programs. The aquaculture industry in Scotland farms salmon and has a global reputation for quality.

www.goodcatch.org.uk www.seafoodscotland.org

Does the contract require recognised industry standards and certification through production, food safety and quality assurance schemes? Has PDO/ PGI status been considered in tenders?

National Food and Drink Policy

Has consideration been given to a reduced specification e.g. calling for less than Grade 1 fruit and vegetables where appearance is less important but nutritional quality is maintained and the opportunity for SMEs to tender is increased?

National Food and Drink Policy

Is the tender documentation straightforward for tenderers? Are the resources required to produce a tender proportionate or are there avoidable requirements which would discourage SMEs from tendering?

National Food and Drink Policy

Sustainable Procurement Action Plan

The Procurement Journey

Does the invitation to tender request details of how the supplier's sustainability and environmental policies will impact on the performance of the particular contract in question?

Does the invitation to tender seek proposals for environment-friendly actions such as reducing food and packaging waste, using recycled packaging, energy and water efficiency and actions in support of Climate Change targets?

Sustainable Procurement Action Plan

National Food and Drink Policy

The Procurement Journey

Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009

Does the type of food and drinks specified meet the voluntary or statutory nutritional standards, food standards and sustainability criteria appropriate to your organisation? Is this providing for continuous improvement?

National Food and Drink Policy

Does the contract monitor the origin and traceability of food?

The Climate Change Act - Public Bodies Duties Guidance.

National Food and Drink Policy