Exeter City Council
The council is one of the largest spending organisations in the city and the surrounding area, and recognises the more money that is spent locally, the greater positive impact this will have on the local economy, particularly for small and medium sized businesses.
The Council is now publishing details of all items of spending over £500 to improve openness and transparency in public spending". For more info, please visit: http://www.exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=13237
The council can legitimately support locally based businesses, by:
1) working pro-actively with local organisations to explain how to do business with the council, see; http://www.Exeter.gov.uk/lgnl/index.aspx?articleid=9086
2) providing information about future procurement and commissioning activity, and advertising tenders on the council and other websites;
3) encouraging suppliers to provide local services by local people where possible;
4) developing local supply chains through early engagement with the local market where there is the possibility to add value;
5) acknowledging that sustainability needs to be embedded in the procurement process
The challenge for the council is to balance the following potentially conflicting priorities of;
- delivering value for money with the required quality, and in accordance with any time constraints;
- sourcing locally where possible within the legislative framework;
- promoting the use of SME’s, voluntary and social enterprises as suppliers of services.
The council, along with its partners, is committed to ensuring that services are delivered in a way that protects the quality of the environment and minimises any adverse impact on community well being. The council recognises that procurement is integral to delivering more sustainable outcomes for the city and the wider community. To achieve this it is necessary to ensure that environmental and broader sustainability considerations are taken into account throughout the procurement process.
To help local suppliers respond to this challenge the council has developed a sustainability accreditation system titled the “Green Accord”.
http://www.Exeter.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=7533 . The council believes that the greatest impact on the environment can be made through suggesting practical steps and actions to be taken by suppliers, principally to save energy and waste. This not only demonstrates their sustainable practices but also brings the benefits of cost savings and business growth to them whilst lowering their carbon footprint.
The Green Accord scheme is an accreditation system developed by the Council that drives sustainable procurement forward. It is nationally recognised as a “green” mark, principally for contractors/suppliers/consultants, to evidence and promote how they work in a sustainable way. Even the smallest companies, with little resources, have been able to achieve the accreditation. The Green Accord promotes the use of Environmental Management Systems such as ISO14001 or BS8555. However these standards focus heavily on policies and strategies and not on the practical measures that can be taken to improve sustainability. Therefore the Green Accord has been identified as the sustainability standard suppliers will be measured against.
It is also expected that all preferred Council suppliers will be Green Accord accredited. However Green Accord accreditation is not essential for you to be on this Buy Local Sell Local list.