Winner: Procurement team is GO-ing places

17 November 2023

Work to cut Powys County Council's carbon footprint by changing the way it buys in goods and services has been rewarded with a national award.

The council's Procurement and Commercial Services Team fought off stiff competition with other shorted listed organisations coming from central government, the NHS and the private sector but was declared winner in the Sustainable Procurement category at the GO Awards Wales 2023/24.

The team has identified its highest carbon emitting suppliers and the areas of highest risk so, it can target these to deliver the biggest improvements. It also makes sure that sustainability is considered from the start of all projects and has designed a toolkit to support this and ensure compliance with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act.

To increase awareness within the council about sustainable procurement a Green Network of officers has been created, who it is hoped will go on to champion further improvements within their own service areas.

Externally, suppliers who receive more than £200,000 a year for delivering council services have been asked to share their carbon reduction plans with the team, with the aim of informing its future buying strategy and the best ways of supporting suppliers to make changes.

"The work done to ensure our procurement practices are as sustainable as possible is vital if we are to deliver on our aim of creating a stronger, fairer and greener Powys," said Cllr David Thomas, Powys County Council's Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Transformation, "as our own research has shown that our supply chain accounts for 70 per cent of our carbon emissions.

"I congratulate our Procurement and Commercial Services Team on their success at the GO Awards. It has been a great effort by all involved and shows our commitment to tackling the climate crisis while we are also wrestling with a very challenging financial situation."

This work was carried out as part of the council's Climate and Nature transformation programme, which aims to help it reach Net Zero for carbon emissions by 2030 and for 30 per cent of the county's land and water to be protected and positively managed for nature by the same date.

The GO Awards celebrate the procurement achievements of Wales's public, private and voluntary sector organisations: https://wales.goawards.co.uk/

PICTURE: Wayne Welsby, the council's Professional Lead for Procurement and Commercial Services collecting the Sustainable Procurement award.