Environment considerations in public sector procurement

The Sustainable Procurement Task force was launched by the Prime Minister in March this year as part of the Government's Sustainable Development Strategy. Its remit is to draw up an Action Plan by April 2006 to change the way in which the public sector purchases goods and services so that environment considerations are given greater precedence. The Task Force, which met for the first time at the end of May, has representation from a range of organisations including industry, regulators, and local and central government.

Intended mainly to provide guidelines on how to minimise or avoid adverse environment impacts through procurement decisions, the Action Plan is also aimed at increasing the sustainable options available to purchasers. The guidelines will include such matters as energy efficiency of appliances and buildings, and the ease of recycling of goods.

Although sustainable products and services are often cost-effective in the long term, in some cases they may have higher costs initially. In instances where procurement budgets cover only the short term, it will be interesting to see how much weight is given to sustainability over initial cost. With around £125 billion spent on goods and services each year however, the public sector does represent a substantial market. Added to this is the Government's hope that by setting an example and providing guidelines for procurement by the public sector, householders and the private sector will follow a similar approach. Therefore it is likely that the demand for products and services that take into account their environment impact is set to grow in the near future.