Benefits of Responsible Procurement

The GLA Group spends in the order of £3 billion a year on procurement. The scale of this expenditure means that there is the potential for it to have a noticeable positive direct socio-economic and environmental impact, and for the GLA Group to influence wider procurement practice. The size of group procurement expenditure also creates economic opportunities which the group will seek to maximise through increased collaborative purchasing.

There are significant end benefits to be gained from responsible procurement, including the following;

Environmental benefits:

• Reduction in harmful emissions and waste generation - improved air and water quality
• Reduced use of natural resources
• Reduced environmental impact of your operations through your supply chain
• Meet existing and forthcoming legislation around the climate change agenda .
• Support resource efficiency (see The Buildings Energy Efficiency Programme (BEEP) case study)

Social benefits:

• Improvements in working conditions - labour standards, health and safety
• Assist disadvantaged groups in society
• Improve wage rates to those in low pay – through the London Living Wage policy (see Catering and Cleaning Contracts case study)
• Up skilling your workforce to meet the future needs of your organisation (see Planning for the future with Project Brunel case study)

Economic benefits:

• Improved efficiency in the public sector - more funds to invest in social and economic development
• Improving the efficiency and transparency of procurement procedures and structures
• Financial savings;
  • Through the concept of whole life costing (WLC) some sustainable products and services reduce cost over their full life cycles
  • Improve the bottom line - avoids the need to pay for: 1) resources which are turned into pollutants; 2) the cost of cleaning them up; and 3) the cost to health and welfare systems arising from increases in illnesses caused by pollution. Taking account of whole life costs can not only save money on running costs, but in many other indirect ways.

Other benefits:

• Fulfil the Government's commitment to place sustainable development at the centre of public procurement policy
• Meet international obligations - for example, the EU Treaty commits member governments to integrate environmental protection into their policies. The Rio Declaration requires the reduction and elimination of unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. At Kyoto, the Government agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 12.5% on average for the period 2008-2012.
• Stimulate the market for green technologies in providing technical solutions to environmental problems whilst generating new employment opportunities.