National Procurement Strategy

At the 2002 World Summit in Johannesburg, a plan of implementation for sustainable procurement was agreed. It states that all relevant authorities should ‘Promote public procurement and diffusion of environmentally sound goods and services’.

To help the UK to move forward on sustainable procurement, a mandatory requirement was introduced in November 2003 by Defra and OGC (The Office of Government Commerce). All new government department contracts had to comply with specified environmental standards known as ‘Quick Win Specifications’.

The UK government has since gone further, and set an ambitious target in its 2005 ‘Sustainable Development Strategy’ to be amongst the leaders in the EU on sustainable procurement by 2009. To help to deliver this, the Sustainable Procurement Task Force (jointly funded by DEFRA and the HM Treasury) was established.

The result was the production of a National Action Plan ‘Procuring the Future’ which was launched by the Task Force on the 12th June 2006.

The National Action Plan gives the government clear direction on how to make real progress towards better, more sustainable procurement, which in turn will allow it to move forward on sustainable development and set an example both to businesses and consumers in the UK, and abroad.

The Action Plan highlights the need for government to lead by example, communicate clear priorities, capture opportunities, raise standards, and reduce barriers in an aim to drive sustainable procurement forward.

To view the National Action Plan ‘Procuring the Future’ click on the report opposite.

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