Report of the Strategic Lead Integrated Commissioning and Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement

This report updates on the steps that have been taken within the council’s procurements to support carbon reduction and highlights planned next steps. In particular the report refers to a recent Internal Audit briefing note on the introduction of the 10% evaluation weighting in procurements relating to climate change and the environment.

The Committee considered the report of Strategic Lead Integrated Commissioning and Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement that updated the Members on the steps that had been taken within the council’s procurements to support carbon reduction and highlighted planned next steps.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction and background, noting that as part of the Climate Change Action Plan, the council was working to reduce the emissions associated with the goods, services and works contracts that the council procured;

·         In March 2021, the council added a new 10% evaluation weighting specifically in relation to climate change and the environment as part of the Social Value element of contracts;

·         Examples of how this weighting had been applied and the outcomes achieved;

·         Providing a summary of the main practical challenges and issues that were having to be addressed; and

·         Appended to the report was the Internal Audit Briefing Note that provided a high level overview of the current arrangements in place to support carbon reduction through sustainable procurement.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         Welcoming the report and the progress to date, noting that this was an important area of activity for the Council;

·         Welcoming the Internal Audit Briefing Note, noting that it was important to engage a ‘critical friend’ to provide an opinion on this important activity;

·         Noting that environmental commitments related to wider activities, in addition to reducing carbon emissions;

·         What was being done to support SMEs (Small and medium-sized enterprises), noting that many of these were committed to people and place;

·         What monitoring was undertaken to ensure that contractors awarded adhered to delivery on their environmental commitments; 

·         Were the Questions and Answers used in the awarding of contracts available for the public to access;

·         Mindful of commercial sensitivity, anonymised case studies should be included in future update reports;

·         Had all the staff involved in the procurement process completed the Carbon Literacy training, noting the extremely high level of technical and innovative information that commissioning officers would need to assess;

·         Directing officers to the Competition and Markets Authority ‘Green claims code: making environmental claims’ guidance as a useful resource; and

·         Noting that to avoid accusations of greenwashing, carbon off setting should be deterred.

In response the Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement stated that the 10% weighting was for the value of the total valuation score, noting that currently Manchester was pioneering this approach. He stated that the monitoring of the delivery of this by successful contractors was undertaken as part of the ongoing contract management arrangements over the life of the contract, and this was to be standardised across all departments within the Council. The Committee were advised that with the exception of very new staff, all staff involved in the procurement process were Carbon Literacy trained. He further added that work was currently underway to capture and centralise the recording of all data on this activity.

The Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement advised that discussions regarding the 10% evaluation weighting in relation to climate change were had with various department Strategic Leads when contract specifications were brought forward prior to tender, noting that there was an escalation process to the Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer if required.

The Strategic Lead Integrated Commissioning stated that wider environmental benefits, such as delivering green space and supporting biodiversity were considered and assessed, noting that the additional 20% minimum Social Value element of contracts could also be used to support such initiatives. However, the requirement to address carbon emissions was explicit in the tender process as this supported and mirrored the ambitions for the city. He added that carbon offsetting was not promoted and actively discouraged; however, he acknowledged there would be circumstances when this would be used, adding that if this was done it needed to benefit the city.

The Strategic Lead Integrated Commissioning advised that the Growth Company and the Council’s Work and Skills Team had established links and support to local SMEs. The Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement further added that advice and constructive feedback was also provided to all unsuccessful bidders as to how they could improve any future applications.

The Strategic Lead Integrated Commissioning advised that there was an online toolkit where the type of questions asked could be viewed and this resource also provided a useful narrative for prospective applicants. Noting that bids were commercially sensitive, consideration would be given to providing anonymised examples in future update reports, commenting that there was evidence that suppliers were actively engaging in this programme as carbon reduction plans had been submitted as part of the tender process. He further added that as this work progressed the examples could be used to inform and educate the market so as to embed this understanding and approach.

Both officers described the learning and sharing of good practice from the Manchester experience that was shared across a range of local and national forums, including Greater Manchester procurement colleagues, other Core Cities and the Local Government Association. Officers further acknowledged the comment regarding the Competition and Markets Authority ‘Green claims code: making environmental claims’ guidance.

The Chair concluded this item by acknowledging the achievements to date and recognising the importance of this activity not only for the city but also the world. She advised that the Committee would request an update report at an appropriate time.

Decision

To note the report and request that an update report is provided for consideration at an appropriate time.