Social Issues in Procurement
EAUC – EAF Programme
EAF Programme
Background
Three year project
Reducing negative environmental and social impacts
through purchasing
Steering group, partners from Further Education and
Higher Education
Training
Train the trainer
Policy and strategy development
Risk based approach to procurement
Supplier engagement
Social issues in procurement
Social Issues in Procurement
Agenda
13.00 Introductions and objectives
13.20 What do we mean by social issues?
14.00 What guidance exists?
14.30 Coffee
14.45 What does good practice look like?
Case Study Review
15.30 Where do I start?
16.15 Action Planning
16.30 Close
Social Issues in Procurement
Format and style of workshops
Interactive
Informal
Varied
Proactive
Social Issues in Procurement
Objectives
Develop a shared understanding of what we mean by
‘social issues in procurement’
Review good practice – Novo Nordisk
Identify opportunities to build social issues into your
procurement activity
What do we mean by social
issues?
Come up with a list of social issues
Social Issues in Procurement
CIPS publication ‘Develop Ethical Purchasing
Practices’ identified the following
Forced labour
Employment relationships
Freedom of association
Wages and working hours
Treatment of employees
Law
Health and Safety
Child labour
Discrimination
Social Issues in Procurement
As early as 1992 B&Q developed a social policy –
they identified the following specific issues
The exploitation of child labour
Bonded labour – including prison camps
Health and Safety
Cottage industry
Migrant workers
Fair wages / living wage
Freedom of association
Equal opportunities
Discrimination
Bullying
Social Issues in Procurement
Vodaphone Code of Ethical Purchasing
Child labour
Forced labour
Health and Safety
Freedom of Association
Discrimination
Disciplinary Practices
Working Hours
Payment
Individual Conduct
Environment
Social Issues in Procurement
Where is it drawn from?
1948 the General Assembly of the United Nations
adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
30 Articles identifying basic human rights to be
adopted by member states
Social Issues in Procurement
Core Conventions of the International Labour
Organisation
Eight ILO Conventions have been identified by the ILO's
Governing Body as being fundamental to the rights of human
beings at work, irrespective of levels of development of individual
member states.
These rights are a precondition for all the others in that they
provide for the necessary implements to strive freely for the
improvement of individual and collective conditions of work
Social Issues in Procurement
Freedom of association
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to
Organize Convention, 1948 (No. 87)
Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention,
1949 (No. 98)
The abolition of forced labour
Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29)
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105)
Social Issues in Procurement
Equality
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention,
1958 (No. 111)
Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100)
The elimination of child labour
Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138)
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)
Social Issues in Procurement
The CIPS position on Ethical Business
Practices in Purchasing and Supply
Management distils aspects of current
developments in the area, including:
The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) Base Code
The Core Convention of the ILO
The UN Declaration on Human Rights
SA8000 (a Social Responsibility Standard developed by
the Council on Economic Priorities Accreditation Agency in
New York - now known as Social Accountability
International (SAI)
Social Issues in Procurement
What does all this mean?
General consistency when people talk about social issues
The issues identified are well known and drawn from the
same sources
Whilst well developed in certain sectors still ignored in
many places
Rhetoric tends to focus on the global challenges rather
than the local opportunities
What guidance exists?
What guidance exists?
OGC / Defra joint note on environmental
issues in purchasing – Social issues in
procurement
Interpretative Communication on integrating
social considerations into public procurement
- frequently asked questions
What guidance exists?
Develop Ethical Purchasing Practice, 2001 –
CIPS
The ethical decision – An executive guide to
corporate social responsibility, 2004 – CIPS
Social issues in purchasing, February 2006 –
Office of Government Commerce
What does it say?
Opportunities exist at different stages of the
procurement process and can legitimately be
incorporated into your activities
What does it say?
Identifying
the need
Contract
The
management
specification
A
simplified
approach
Tender Supplier
evaluation Selection
What does it say?
But remember:
They must be relevant to the subject matter of the
contract
Actions must be consistent with the EU Treaty
and the EU Public Procurement Directive
Most progress can be made if social issues are
considered at the earliest stages of the
procurement cycle
Novo Nordisk
Case Study
Novo Nordisk
Read the materials provided?
What do you like about their approach?
Is any of it relevant to your institution?
What can you apply to your situation?
Where do I start?
Where do I start?
Are social issues identified in your current
purchasing strategy or policy?
Are social issues identified as a priority by
any other part of the business?
Have obligations relating to social legislation
been considered?
Could you take a risk based approach to
identify high spend / risk areas?
What social issues are
important to your institution?
Produce a list that you think is relevant
and useful to you
Where do I start?
Consider social issues from the outset, there is most
scope early on in the process
Carefully plan the procurement process to ensure it
is accessible to a suitable variety of suppliers
Use performance or functional specifications where
appropriate for desired social outcomes to
encourage innovative solutions
Assemble relevant expertise procurement
specialists and end users
Early dialogue with the supplier community – tell
them what is important to you.
Where do I start?
Here are a number of important social issues that
might be relevant to your institution.
Community Benefits
Core Labour Standards
Disability Equality
Employment and Training Issues
Fair Trade
Gender Equality
Race Equality
Including Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
Work Force Skills
Exercise
As a contracting organisation what
actions could you take?
Action Planning
Realistically
What can you take forward?
How will go about it?
SMART
Summary
A complicated and developing area
Starting point is the same as with
environmental issues
What's important to you?
What are the risks?
What can you realistically do?
Focus on small steps close to home
Guidance and further support is available
Many thanks
jbrannigan@esdconsulting.co.uk
www.eauc.org.uk