Carbon cutting service 'changed the mindset' of care company

14 May 2025

A web app, giving suppliers of goods and services to Powys County Council bespoke advice on cutting their carbon footprint, has brought a "new mindset" to one care company.

Compass Community Care, in Newtown, helped to test the council's Supply Chain Sustainability Portal when it was being developed and has now become one of the first to make 'green' changes, because of the feedback it received.

These include:

• Switching its fleet to electric vehicles, as lease agreements are renewed.
• Giving unwanted kitchen appliances and furniture to a reuse charity.
• Reprogramming its accounting software so budgets can be reviewed on screen instead of on printed spreadsheets.

"The advice we received from Powys County Council started a discussion about what else we could do as a company," said Sharon Jones, Managing Director of Compass Community Care. "Being aware of our energy use had been on our radar for many, many years but completing this assessment made us think more about some of the bigger things we needed to do as well.

"It was difficult initially to see how we, as a care company, fitted into everything, but once we started thinking about how we would do things at home and started taking things back to brass tacks, everything fell into place.

"The changes we have made are sending out a message, not just across our organisation, but to the people we support and the people we employ that we can all do more to cut our carbon emissions. We have a new mindset now."

Compass Community Care has since gone on to complete a more detailed decarbonisation plan with Business Wales, which is sometimes needed when tendering for public contracts. They can also help to give businesses a competitive advantage in other instances.

The Supply Chain Sustainability Portal, which has been recognised with a national procurement award, is available through the council's website: Supply Chain Sustainability Portal

It is available to social care businesses and to highways, transport and recycling companies, and is likely to be developed so it can be used by other sectors in the future too.

Suppliers using it are asked to complete a questionnaire about their business, with the results used to generate suggested carbon cutting actions, set out in five key steps.

Councillor Jackie Charlton, Powys County Council's Cabinet Member for a Greener Powys said: "Suppliers taking positive action to reduce their carbon footprint after accessing advice through our Supply Chain Sustainability Portal is truly amazing and shows what can be done in a complex area with some simple support. It's important that we all act on the advice we receive as we look to reduce carbon emissions to net zero in the public sector in Wales by 2030 and shows that reducing your carbon footprint makes business sense too.

"Well done Compass Community Care. You are a shining example that all our suppliers in the social care and highways, transport and recycling sectors need to follow!"

It is estimated that the council's suppliers account for around three-quarters of its total annual carbon emissions of around 90,200 tonnes of CO₂e.

Work on the Supply Chain Sustainability Portal has been carried out as part of the council's Climate and Nature and Digital Transformation programmes. For further information on it contact: commercialservices@powysgov.uk

Compass Community Care offers home care, and supported living for adults with a learning disability in Powys, Wrexham, Flintshire and Caerphilly: https://www.compassccl.com/

PICTURE: Megan, one of Compass Community Care's clients, with her electric car, which she was supported to get through the Motability Scheme. Picture: Compass Community Care