Memorandum submitted by the National Farmers'
Union
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The National Farmers' Union is the democratic
organisation for farmers and growers in England and Wales. The
NFU represents 61,000 farmers and growers from the major agricultural
and horticultural sectors on a range of issues including food
policy. In recent years, the organisation has taken an increasing
interest in the area of public procurement especially the public
procurement of food and catering services.
1.2 The NFU's evidence will therefore be
largely based on its experience in dealing with government agencies
and departments in this area especially concentrating on the government's
Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI) managed by DEFRA.
At national and regional level, the NFU has endeavoured to inform
policy and facilitate contact between policy makers, procurers,
suppliers and farmers. The organisation is committed to helping
the public sector procure sustainable food whilst at the same
time signposting market opportunities to its members.
2. Is setting targets for sustainable public
procurement enough? Should there be more stringent requirements
on departments with regard to how they carry out sustainable procurement
activities and how they are reported?
2.1 The 2005 NAO report found that departments
were making good progress in this area. Effecting change on this
scale will take time and targets need to reflect this and be achievable.
Requirements could be made more stringent in an effort to speed
up change and to also incentivise poor performers. The report
also found discrepancies between high level and operational level
and it is important that changes to targets reflect this dislocation.
2.2 While the NAO report focuses on procurement
by central departments it should be noted that procurement for
schools is progressed by Local Authorities. The evidence would
suggest that PSFPI has not encouraged all Local Authorities to
engage in the issue of sustainable procurement. Recent research
conducted by the Meat & Livestock Commission into the Public
Sector Food Procurement Initiative's effectiveness at Local Authority
level in England has shown the following:
Question
|
Yes |
No
| Don't
know |
Has your organisation adopted sustainable development policies in relation to its food purchasing?
| 117 | 63 | 4
|
| Have you received advice or information from DEFRA
| 87 | 38 | 6
|
| Do you (nevertheless) include sustainability criteria in your food supply contracts?
| 86 | 41 | 4
|
Source: MLC Local Education Authorities Survey 2005—90% of Local Authorities responded
| | | |
2.3 These figures show a more pressing need to inform
and encourage Local Authorities to engage in the process before
targets are set. It would seem that targets or more stringent
measures also need to take into account the fact that there are
these discrepancies between Local Authorities.
3. How best can the performance of departments and local
authorities be measured with the aim of allowing proper comparisons
between them? How can the SDiG questionnaire be improved to provide
more meaningful results?
3.1 There appears to be a plethora of initiatives that
affect the procurer. At the top level the co-ordination of these
initiatives would seem to be seamless and the process is often
assisted by inter-departmental ministerial meetings. Many commentators
have suggested that the Gershon Efficiency Review and many of
the sustainable procurement initiatives are incompatible. At the
highest level any such suggestion has been dismissed and OGC have
endeavoured to point out that efficiency and sustainability can
work hand in hand with one another. At the same time at grass
roots level, procurers complain that in practice, to satisfy the
objectives of both is impossible and that the efficiency review
must take priority. The NFU therefore agrees with the NAO finding
that: "Members of procurement teams we consulted told us
that the main barriers to sustainable procurement were: a conflict
between sustainable procurement and the focus on reducing costs;
a lack of leadership on these issues across government and within
departments; a failure to integrate sustainability into standard
procurement processes; decentralisation of procurement within
departments; and a lack of training and guidance about what sustainable
procurement is and how to achieve it."
3.2 It is important that government departments and agencies
are measured against their own efficient delivery of sustainable
development policy and that comparisons are also drawn between
departments and agencies. This will enable poor performers to
make improvements while successful bodies can share best practice
between one another.
3.3 Obviously the SDiG questionnaire covers a multitude
of areas and their impact on sustainable development. The questionnaire
has undoubtedly been improved in line with recommendations made
by NAO and the EAC but continuous improvement in relation to food
procurement is needed and the area should be covered in much greater
depth. This may also help to address the finding made by the NAO
in September 2005 that "the wording of the questions allowed
considerable scope for interpretation. This led to inconsistencies
in reported answers."
3.4 The Defra Food Procurement Implementation Group (FPIG)
feedback mechanisms gauge the success of the initiative in greater
detail. It is perhaps more difficult to make immediate comparisons
as the feedback is more qualitative in nature. However it is almost
certainly easier for participants to share best practice and to
cover the issues in greater depth which the SDiG questionnaire
in its current form does not allow.
4. Should there be improved guidance for departments on
how to improve procurement practice, including risk assessment?
If so, who should be responsible for providing it?
4.1 Written guidance for departments on how to improve
procurement practice should be easy to follow and compliment policy
and other guidance available from government. "Blueprints"
and specimen documents also seem to be popular amongst procurers
and help with resource allocation.
4.2 As identified previously, government procurers have
a plethora of initiatives to deal with and the situation with
guidance is similarly confusing. In the area of food procurement
guidance on how to improve procurement practice is available from
a number of sources including:
— Office of Government Commerce (OGC)
— DfES eg Healthy Living Blueprint for Schools
— Improvement and Development Agency (I&DeA)
— NGOs eg Sustain, Soil Association
4.3 Seemingly most central government departments tend
to use DEFRA and OGC guidance to inform their procurement policies
and tender documents. However some have only incorporated the
information into their existing sustainability policies and action
plans. That said the NFU has encountered similar problems to those
found by NAO in that training and guidance in this area is not
always accessible. In defence of the agencies above PSFPI training
has been provided in the regions for procurers although attendance
was voluntary.
4.4 At Local Authority level the picture is more confused
with procurers using information from a wide range of sources
or even preferring not to use any of the published guidance.
4.5 In some cases the guidance available can appear to
be contradictory. This is evidenced by some procurers believing
that the only sustainable food systems are those which are organic.
The subsequent pursuit of an inflexible organic sourcing policy
could lead to a reduction in overall sustainability as in some
areas local organic produce is not available. Therefore a situation
may arise where organic produce comes from longer distances where
its environmental impact is much greater. It is essential that
guidance and training be widely available and also joined up to
minimise confusion.
4.6 Defra have released a number of useful documents
relating to the sustainable purchase of food. DEFRA's Guidance
for Buyers & their Internal customers to PSFPI (http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/sustain/procurement/pdf/foodprocure.pdf)
which provides general advice into the incorporation of sustainable
development into procurement of food and catering services was
produced in 2003 and served as a good introduction to this area.
4.7 More recently, Defra's Catering Services and Food
Procurement Toolkit (http://www.defra.gov.uk/farm/sustain/procurement/toolkit.htm)
which is available to buyers and non-procurement professionals,
sought to cover the issue in greater detail. The toolkit provides
practical guidance and templates to assist in the procurement
of catering services and food from wholesalers and producers.
The toolkit contains guidance on how to incorporate the aims of
the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative into catering and
food supply contracts as well as sample tender documents, specifications
and model contract clauses that can be used by buyers.
5. Where are the examples of best practice within the
public and private sector from which government departments can
learn?
5.1 There are a number of good examples which the public
sector can learn from. Many of these have been published as case
studies already. Defra's PSFPI website contains a number of good
examples and the Welsh Procurement Initiative have produced Food
for Thought—A new Approach to public sector food procurement
case studies April 2005.
5.2 Many of the successful case studies in the public
sector have been in pilot form. They have been managed with extra
care and attention to detail and have often been in receipt of
funding from Defra or other bodies to assist in their set-up.
One of the real challenges is how to scale up the procurement
pilots and how to duplicate their success on a much greater scale.
5.3 There are examples of best practice where the private
sector buys food. The models employed by Marks & Spencer and
Waitrose link farmer, processor and retailer together. This not
only improves the flow of information but also means that the
whole chain is committed to improving sustainability.
6. Are the various work streams identified by the Sustainable
Procurement Task Force adequate? What do the key components of
the Action Plan need to be in order to ensure that its recommendations
have maximum impact?
6.1 The NFU believes that the Sustainable Procurement
Task Force work will go some way to assisting in the delivery
of the government's objectives in this area. All of the workstreams
seem to have relevance to the area and should assist in breaking
down many of the barriers to sustainable procurement. The Action
Plan should look to assist in the breaking down of barriers to
the advancement of sustainable procurement thereby demonstrating
to individuals and the private sector that sustainable development
is achievable and that the government is serious in its intentions
to progress it.
7. CONCLUSIONS
7.1 The public procurement of food is a complicated area
not least due to the myriad of routes to market and the different
structures which exist between departments and agencies and also
within them. For instance hospitals with their own catering capability
can buy their food from the NHS Purchasing & Supply Agency
(PASA) or from delivered wholesalers or directly from food producers.
Those without catering facilities can buy from the above or through
a third party catering company. It is worth noting that some NHS
trusts may use a combination of the supply chains outlined above.
Hospitals managed under Private Finance initiatives may purchase
food in any number of the ways mentioned above and unless sustainable
procurement requirements are included within the contract there
are no obligations on the PFI company to purchase with these considerations
in mind.
7.2 It is important that procurers are able to adapt
to local and regional circumstances and also act in the best interests
of the local economy where feasible and within EU procurement
rules. However the diverse routes to market, the large numbers
of decision-makers and the different interpretations of government
policy mean that there are a myriad of responses to this difficult
issue and in some cases sustainability has not been addressed
at all by procurers.
7.3 Whilst sustainability is the responsibility of all,
government must be explicit in how it wants to achieve this in
procurement. Clarity in the high level processes is evident but
that is not enough. Help needs to be given to those actually doing
the procuring. At every step of the procurement process, from
identifying need, writing the specification, selection, tender
evaluation and contract management, government departments must
be clear what they want so suppliers can react accordingly. The
private sector will then be able to invest in innovation and creative
ways to deliver what the public sector wants.
20 October 2005
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