Responsible Procurement
Social Value
From April 2022 all NHS organisations are required to allocate at least 10% of the evaluation criteria for a tender exercise to social value. This covers the below themes which will be considered as they apply to each particular exercise:
- Covid-19 Recovery: Supporting recovery of suppliers and economies.
- Fighting Climate Change: Seeking to minimise any negative environmental impacts of goods and services purchased, across their life cycle from raw material extraction to end of life.
- Ethical Procurement: Managing and monitoring supply chains to ensure that fair contract prices and terms are applied and that ethical, human rights and employment standards are protected and all requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 are met. The BCA will ensure work to ensure that Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 is given full consideration whenever major tenders are let.
- Tackling Economic Inequality: The economic principle relates not only to obtaining value for money from our contracts, across the whole life of the product or service, but also ensuring as far as is possible under relevant procurement law, that local businesses, particularly Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SME’s) can benefit from our procurement processes in being able to supply the BCA where it is feasible for them to do so.
- Equal Opportunity: Ensuring that processes adopted by organisations and suppliers are inclusive of disadvantaged groups, supported by fair and equitable standards.
All of the above principles will be objectively measured using an agreed BCA Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA) prior to decision making. It is recommended that suppliers consider how the activities they undertake support the above goals and, when bidding for new work, how the contract can be used to improve the above factors specifically for that agreement.
Sustainability Impact Assessment (SIA)
The SIA will be used by the Trust when planning new procurement exercises or business cases to ensure that sustainability and social value considerations are considered when planning an exercise. A template SIA form can be found here, showing the areas covered which it would be helpful for prospective suppliers to consider.
Carbon Reduction Plans
The NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap sets out the steps suppliers must take to align with the NHS net zero ambition between now and 2030.
The purpose of this document is to provide further details on the implementation of the following two milestones in the roadmap:
- From April 2023, for all contracts above £5 million per annum, the NHS will require suppliers to publish a carbon reduction plan (CRP) for their UK Scope 1 and 2 emissions as a minimum (see table 1 for further details).
- From April 2024, the NHS will extend the requirement for a carbon reduction plan to cover all procurements. Suppliers will be required to publish a CRP for their UK Scope 1 and 2 as a minimum (see table 1 for further details).
A two-year grace period on the 2023 and 2024 CRP requirements will apply to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs). However, SMEs and VCSEs are encouraged to demonstrate climate leadership and meet the requirements before these deadlines.
NHS England’s requirements build upon the principles of the UK central government’s Procurement Policy Note 06/21: Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major government contracts (PPN 06/21).
It is therefore recommended that all potential suppliers consider the completion of a Carbon Reduction Plan to ensure compliance with on-going NHS requirements.
Supplier Code of Conduct
It is expected that all suppliers to the Trust comply with the principles of the Trust’s Supplier Code of Conduct >
Modern Slavery
Under the Modern Slavery Act (2015) all organisations with a turnover in excess of £36m are required to produce an annual Modern Slavery Statement which confirms that the organisation does not condone or use modern slavery and outlines the steps it takes to ensure its supply chain also adheres to this.
The BCA have compliance with the Modern Slavery Act (2015) as a mandatory requirement in all procurement exercises and bids will be excluded where this is not in place.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI)
The BCA recognises the difficulties faced by businesses with a diverse background and is committed to promoting, supporting and encouraging EDI in all aspects of procurement.
The BCA has nominated an EDI Champion in order to support our approach to improving consideration of EDI in Procurement - Janice Nelson, Clinical Procurement Specialist Nurse, E: janicenelson@nhs.net
As part of this a number of objectives have been identified to support the BCA in identifying and removing any barriers to working with the NHS for all suppliers.
Recent engagement with suppliers through surveys have identified that 20% do not have an EDI Policy, and more than 50% do not monitor the diversity of staff. It is recommended that prospective suppliers consider these aspects to ensure they are able to bid for future opportunities.