Report to:	Lead Member for Resources and Climate Change
Date of meeting:	28 March 2024
By:	Chief Operating Officer
Title:	Update to the Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy
Purpose:	To seek approval for the proposed updated Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy

RECOMMENDATION:

The Lead Member for Resources and Climate Change is recommended to approve the updated Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy set out in Appendix 1 of this report.

1          Background

1.1. The Orbis Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy (ESPP) was approved and adopted by East Sussex County Council (ESCC) in October 2022. It was simultaneously adopted by Surrey County Council (SCC) and Brighton and Hove City Council (BHCC).

1.2       Officers from the 3 Orbis partner councils have reviewed the ESPP and have identified a few minor changes which are required to bring it up to date and further in line with identified best practice.

2 Supporting information

2.1       The ESPP was an important step in establishing a clear policy on sustainability in ESCC’s supply chain and signalling ESCC’s objectives and goals to internal and external stakeholders on areas such as carbon reduction, biodiversity, waste and use of natural resources. It has been used to inform procurement strategies and the approach to tackling Scope 3 procurement emissions which are by far the largest part of ESCC’s overall greenhouse gas emissions footprint.

2.2       These amendments are also being made at SCC and BHCC. It is important that ESCC continues to align with the other Orbis partners from a procurement and supply chain perspective.

Updates to be considered

2.3 The updated policy is provided at Appendix 1 and changes are summarised as follows (included in the appendix in tracked changes for ease of reference):

· Including ESCC’s adoption of the application of Central Government’s Procurement Policy Note 06/21 which requires Carbon Reduction Plans to be provided by a bidder, for specific contracts and where applicable;  

· Including explicit reference to the waste hierarchy in two sections and including this definition at the end of the document; and

· Ensuring the policy stays up to date with emerging and additional regulation and legislation in this area.

3          Conclusion and reasons for recommendations

3.1       The Lead Member for Resources and Climate Change is recommended to approve the updated Environmentally Sustainable Procurement Policy set out in Appendix 1, which has been revised to bring it further in line with best practice.

ROS PARKER
Chief Operating Officer

Contact Officer: Ian Roadnight
Email: ian.roadnight@eastsussex.gov.uk

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BACKGROUND DOCUMENTS:

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