House of Commons - Environmental Audit

Select Committee on Environmental Audit Third Report

Training

17. Leadership will of course founder if those who lead and are led neither know where they are going or how they are going to get there. Procurement teams and others involved in the sustainable procurement agenda need to be brought up to speed as quickly as possible with all the implications of SD for their work. Likewise the ability to use often complicated guidance effectively—and we acknowledge that good procurement is not a straightforward business—presupposes not just good will but also good training. As was the case with leadership, many of the memoranda we received talked about the need not necessarily for better training—although some did—but for more frequent and extensive training covering all levels of the departmental hierarchy. As the Association of Sustainable Manufacturers (ASMa) said in its memorandum to us, "departments are not prioritising the provision of training on sustainable procurement. This is the missing link." The Business Services Association (BSA) in its memorandum to us also noted "the lack of training... as to what sustainable procurement is and how to achieve it".[27] Both of these organisations echoed what the NAO said, in its Review of September last year, that "departments should increase uptake in training on sustainable procurement" for both senior staff and procurement staff; and that this training should also spread to staff in decentralised purchasing teams. Currently, "procurement teams are not aware of the training opportunities which exist" and "do not have the resources to deliver training on sustainable procurement".[28]

18. Training of a moderately high quality in the broad principles underpinning the sustainable approach to procurement is already available but is infrequent: moreover, it seems principally to reach only those already interested in or committed to the sustainable procurement agenda. Many of those running courses in this area report seeing the same faces from the same departments again and again—and those from SD rather than procurement teams—while it seems the message fails to reach most of those who need it in departments which have yet to move to adopt good principles of sustainability in their procurement activities. Indeed, some departments are possibly not touched at all by this agenda. The NAO in its Review found that only 4 departments had their own training and awareness programmes in sustainable procurement.[29] This must change. Other organisations have suggested that the guidance itself is insufficient and fails to make strong enough a case for sustainable procurement—and lacks the sort of detailed information which would make it of real practical use. Our predecessor Committee made this point when it commented that current UK guidance fails "to make the potential for incorporating environmental considerations into procurement contracts clear".[30] Again, the NAO in its Review pointed out that "departments find current guidance on sustainable procurement insufficient" and are often unaware of some of the guidance that does exist, including some elements, such as the Joint Note on Environmental Issues in Purchasing, which OGC and DEFRA both consider to be central to its output in this area. On a positive note it is good to report that the perception that sustainability in procurement conflicts with European legislation in this area has largely been overcome through good guidance.[31]

19. Perhaps the most important component within these issues of training and guidance is that all necessary levels and parts of a department's hierarchy must be included within their scope. This cannot be stressed too much. Progress cannot be made while senior procurement, budgetary or other officials are still over-ruling or impeding environmentally sound procurement decisions. It will always be easier for senior management to spread a message and its accompanying practice down an organisation than it will be for low and middle-level procurers to spread the message up. Better training and guidance extended within an organisation will still prove inadequate unless those at the top end of the hierarchy who have to oversee budgets and decisions in procurement across the organisation are likewise trained and in receipt of better guidance than currently obtain. We need to see a green streak running right through government and from top to bottom through individual departments before we can expect them to take on a greener complexion overall. Departments must make it a priority to establish a roster for the training of key staff, starting at the top.

20. ASMa in its memorandum to us suggested that there needed to be put in place a "national training programme for procurement personnel and specifiers so they can identify and evaluate sustainability".[32] In the NAO Review 4 departments concurred with this in saying that sustainable procurement training should be provided centrally.[33] It is clear that some new initiative is required to ensure that all procurement operatives—and those responsible for budgets—undergo sufficient training to assist the Government in its aim to bring sustainability into the heart of their work. However, as the NAO Review emphasises, "departments do not have the resources to deliver training on sustainable procurement".[34] As an earlier NAO Report found, less than one quarter of procurement staff are fully qualified.[35] Clearly, the Government cannot expect the cause of sustainable procurement to be furthered unless staff are better trained and advised, and this is as much a resource as a leadership issue. The Government must provide resources sufficient to ensure that departmental procurement staff—and, where appropriate, budgeting staff - are trained to a level which will permit them to incorporate sustainability into cost-effective procurement decisions. As we said earlier in this Report, this agenda requires a sea-change in culture: it also requires a sensible level of funding from Government.