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Equality and Diversity

Our policy for good procurement

To ensure that procurement policy, planning and practice supports the delivery of innovative, cost effective and quality services, in fulfilment of the County Council’s priorities and the Hampshire Community Strategy. It is a policy based on: equal opportunities for those in the societies in which we live and operate; and on responsible management of the resources and environments in which we live and operate.

Active participants

County Supplies staff and managers and those staff and managers across Hampshire County Council also involved in procurement, plus our Contractors, other local authorities and voluntary groups.

Working processes

• A key element of our Corporate Procurement Strategy.
• National Procurement Strategy for Local Government.
• User survey and annual supplier survey.
• Electronic surveys, communications and ordering.
• User groups.
• Annual conferences of customers.
• SupplyBase quarterly newsletter.
• Exhibitions and ‘meet the buyer’ events.
• Internet site updates.

Health and Safety within Hampshire County Council

Hampshire County Council has published a health and safety policy that covers all persons who may be affected by our work and the services we provide. This includes staff, service users, members of the public, partners and volunteers. Health and Safety forms part of the Corporate Risk Management Policy and arrangements. We aim to have a sensible and pragmatic application of health and safety that supports our services to the people of Hampshire and provides appropriate standards of protection.

With our purchasing arrangements, we aim to ensure that the products we provide are of a suitable standard and, where possible, we provide advice on how the most appropriate items of equipment can be selected. Where items have elements of risk attached to their use, information is provided to inform local risk assessments, so that appropriate control measures are taken to protect people from those risks. Where you require an item or product which is not listed, you can seek help through County Supplies Customer Services or directly through a supplier listed in the Catalogue of Goods and Services.

The above guidelines are for Hampshire County Council staff and establishments. For customers outside of Hampshire County Council, please refer to your organisation's policy on Health and Safety.

Sustainability

We have a firm policy of researching and sourcing products which meet our joint aims of matching customer requirements and demonstrating environmental and economic efficiency. This is in line with Hampshire County Council’s corporate objectives for sustainability and best value. See what we have accomplished so far in our Monitor of Achievements.

Our green purchasing objectives are to:

• Consider economic and environmental impacts for the whole life cycle of a product before it is included in the catalogue
• Specify and purchase products, wherever possible, with a low environmental impact as opposed to disposable products or those made from virgin material
• Vet suppliers and manufacturers and impress upon them the need to move towards compliance with our green purchasing goals
• Provide a positive and proactive approach to researching and sourcing new environmentally friendly technologies to reflect the Council’s corporate aims for sustainability and best value
• Encourage all our manufacturers and suppliers to significantly reduce all unnecessary printing and packaging (packaging that is used to maintain product integrity should be reusable and/or recyclable)
• Encourage manufacturers and suppliers to include a retrieve and recycle system on as many products as possible
• Promote our green purchasing responsibilities to other organisations to encourage them to adopt similar practices
• Work closely with other local authority procurement departments in the Central Buying Consortium to positively influence environmentally friendly and recycled product markets
• Examine our own practices and regularly review our responsibilities to ensure compliance with legislation and to reflect best practice
• Increase awareness and improve the sustainability of both our own and customer purchasing decisions.

If you would like advice on making sustainable purchasing decisions, please see the Green Buying Guide.