Environmental Sustainability, Social Value and SME-Friendly Procurement

The University’s Strategy Citizens of Change: Our Second Century, says how “We will value, nurture and celebrate our people and relationships, ensuring they are inclusive, impactful, sustainable, and influence positive change in our world”. 

One of the Strategy’s four guiding principles is, Environmental Sustainability: “We care about the environment and are committed to minimising the impact of our operations on the natural world for future generations”.

The University considers itself a Contracting Authority as defined by the Procurement Act 2023, and so must comply with this legislation, including having regard for: any barriers that Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) may face were they to participate in a procurement exercise, and considering whether they could be removed or reduced; and, the National Procurement Policy Statement. We monitor our spend with SMEs.

The University fully complies with the Modern Slavery Act 2015, publishing an annual Modern Slavery Statement (PDF, 257kb) linked from the home page of our website, explaining the steps taken during the year to mitigate against slavery and human trafficking in our supply chains, and signed by the Chief Financial Officer. 

The University has set itself the target of having net zero carbon emissions by 2040, so covering all scopes, including Scope 3 indirect emissions (incl. those related to our purchasing of goods and services). Our Environmental Sustainability Masterplan includes a Responsible Consumption section led by the Procurement Unit. 

The University’s procurement process includes a Sustainability Impact Assessment at the outset to identify environmental, social, Equity Diversity & Inclusion (EDI), and economic risks and opportunities to be factored into the tender exercise/contract, i.e. the specification, evaluation criteria, and/or contract terms and conditions. We monitor the number of our procurement contracts that include a social clause(s).

The University’s tendering templates and contract terms and conditions include standard questions/provisions relating to environmental standards, carbon reduction, logistical efficiency, EDI promotion and protections, and modern slavery mitigation.  

To assist the University in tracking and evidencing progress in meeting its carbon target, suppliers are expected to use the Net Carbon Supplier Tool to record their emissions, and where they have no figure to submit, to complete a questionnaire within the portal to gain an emission figure and a carbon reduction plan, for free.

The University has also invested in the Social Value Portal alongside the other two Leicestershire universities, Loughborough and De Montfort, as well as Leicester City Council, to gain, evaluate, track and record quantifiable (£) social value commitments from bidders for (then suppliers awarded) appropriate £100k+ contracts.