GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY

OVERVIEW

SPP IN GREATER LONDON AUTHORITY (GLA) GROUP

The Greater London Authority is a strategic regional authority, with powers over transport, policing, economic development and fire and emergency planning. The GLA Group spends around £11billion on its procurement activities every year.


SPP HIGHLIGHTS

  • The Mayor of London published a new Responsible Procurement Policy for the GLA Group in 2021, initiating a wide-ranging programme of development designed to enhance the economic, social and environmental well-being of the capital;
  • The Group has published a Responsible Procurement Progress Report 2019-20
  • The Group has published the Responsible procurement implementation plan 2022-2024
  • All Functional Bodies have developed an action plan, to deliver the targets and ambitions outlined in the Implementation Plan
  • Over 200 staff members have received Responsible Procurement training. 
  • All Functional Bodies of GLA have developed Single Use Plastic Action Plans in line with the London Environment Strategy and identified upcoming contracts in which to include tender questions or requirements.
  • TfL received a ‘Highly Commended’ at the Procura+ Awards in September 2018 for the work on addressing skills shortages and underrepresentation in the supply chain
  • Supplier are required to accept fair terms of pay and over 4,700 workers in the GLA Group supply chain benefitted from the London Living Wage 
  • Transport for London (TfL) delivered three pre-employment programmes with various key suppliers, focussing on attracting more women and BAME individuals into our supply chain and industry. 
  • Modern Slavery Act 2015 compliance registers produced for each Functional Body to monitor key suppliers’ compliance with the transparency in supply chains requirements of the Act. 
  • Over 6,000 supply chain apprenticeship starts since 2009 supported into employment, as a result of contractual requirements
  • A full due diligence programme to protect and improve conditions for workers in factories producing Transport for London (TfL)’s uniforms
  • Electric vehicles replace diesel-driven car fleet in the London Fire Brigade (LFB);
  • 10-day payment terms for small to medium sized enterprises; and
  • Supplier engagement activities aimed at the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Facilities Management contract to increase awareness of RP elements, specifically environmental sustainability outcomes.

8.5m

Population

12bn

Annual spend

78k

Employees

CONTACT

Tim Rudin

Head of GLA Group Responsible Procurement Team

 

WEBSITE

 

More information? Email procurement@iclei.org  

IN ACTION

SPP POLICY AND STRATEGY

For the GLA Group, responsible procurement means pioneering socially, environmentally and economically sustainable procurement to deliver improved quality of life and better value for money. It involves working in partnership across London to provide sustained employment opportunities and improve working conditions.  It means opening up access to contract opportunities for London’s diverse businesses, and voluntary and community sector organisations, encouraging improved practices with our suppliers and promoting greater environmental sustainability to make London a better place to live and work.

Through the GLA Group’s extensive public procurement of products and services, the GLA Group Responsible Procurement Policy is designed to deliver lasting positive change.  This will be achieved by:

  • Working to improve our communities in partnership with local people and organisations to address their specific needs through relevant contract requirements and performance measures.
  • Driving fair employment practice with our suppliers to ensure that their employees receive fair employment terms and pay, including the London Living Wage to the extent permitted by law.
  • Breaking down barriers that restrict SMEs, community sector organisations and under-represented groups from entering our supply chain to generate employment, skills and training opportunities.
  • Encouraging innovative approaches that advance London’s competitiveness as a world leading city for business, creativity and fairness.
  • Leading by example in the procurement of clean technologies and using resources efficiently.
  • Preserving and regenerating our natural environment and protected buildings/sites.
  • Building on and sharing good practice within the GLA Group and externally.

In order to implement and prioritise the key themes of the policy, the GLA Group Central Responsible Procurement Team has published a Responsible Procurement Implementation Plan. The plan sets out the ambitions and key actions that the GLA Group Functional Bodies will prioritise to deliver the Responsible Procurement Policy. These are shared by and implemented across the Functional Bodies and cover a number of key policy areas. 

The plan also outlines a number of metrics to track the delivery of social value through the implementation of the Responsible Procurement Policy. Metrics are reviewed on a quarterly and annual basis with Functional Bodies meeting at the quarterly forum to share best practice and challenges to support collaborative delivery of the Policy. 


TRANSPORT FOR LONDON

Transport for London (TfL) is the integrated transport authority responsible for delivering Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's strategy and commitments on transport. We run the day-to-day operation of the Capital's public transport network and manage London's main roads. Every day more than 31 million journeys are made across our network. We do all we can to keep the city moving, working and growing and to make life in our city better.

Strategic Labour Needs and Training (SLNT)

To ensure value for money and enable Londoners to benefit from TfL spend, key suppliers are required to make employment, skills and training opportunities more accessible to the communities they serve. Since 2009, Transport for London (TfL) has worked in partnership with suppliers to provide opportunities to people from a range of backgrounds, while also ensuring the deliverability of its future business plan. TfL has helped to create 5,500 supply chain apprenticeship starts and over 5,000 workless job starts, while 150 ex-offenders have been supported into employment.


METROPOLITAN POLICE SERVICE

With more than 43,000 officers and staff, MPS is the UK’s largest Police Service accounting for 25% of the total police budget for England and Wales. MPS direct procurement spend exceeds £700m annually.

As a significant purchaser of goods and services, the MPS has the potential to generate considerable social and environmental impacts both directly and indirectly through our procurement activities and the supply chain. The MPS continues to minimise the impacts of its procurement decisions through the adoption of social, environmental and economically responsible procurement processes which also have the opportunity to deliver greater value for money.

Fair Employment

The MPS has increased the opportunities available to Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through our procurement processes. This includes faster payment to ensure financial support with 86% of all payments being received within 10 days. The MPS continues to use CompeteFor which is a portal to engage with SME’s specifically for MPS procurement opportunities under £50,000.

The MPS supports the Mayor of London’s ambitions to enable skills training and employment opportunities by supporting apprentices. The MPS employed a number within the supply chain to carry out various roles including grounds maintenance, construction, mechanical and electrical engineering, electronic security and control room system contracts. In addition, 100% of the Facilities Management supply chain who work on the MPS contract for more than 50% of their time receive the London Living Wage.

Environmental Sustainability

A number of contracts have been let recently with the inclusion of specific environmental considerations. These include an ICT supply contract with requirements to reduce impacts associated with the manufacture, transportation or delivery of products including waste minimisation, energy efficiency and carbon reduction.

The MPS’s contract for catering services includes requirements for seasonal and locally sourced produce, waste and carbon reduction opportunities, animal welfare and sustainability standards and Fairtrade items. A food waste trial has been implemented in partnership with the contractor to reduce the amount of compostable waste being sent to landfill.

Other contracts include Fleet Managed Services, Facilities Management and intermediate construction works, which include key responsible procurement requirements including apprenticeships and training, ethical sourcing, sustainable travel plans, waste reduction and reuse and carbon management.

An example of supplier engagement activity is the Facilities Management Sustainability Forum was delivered to contract managers, managing directors and environmental leads of the supply chain in December 2016. The event allowed the suppliers, MPS environment leads and KBR (FM Integrator service manager) to share best practice and gain further insight into the sustainability elements of the FM contract. It also gave the supply chain a platform to promote sustainability successes through the first FM Supply Chain Sustainability Awards.


LONDON FIRE BRIGADE

London Fire Brigade is the UK capital’s fire and rescue service - one of the largest firefighting and rescue organisations in the world.  The Brigade spends around £230m each year on a wide range of goods, services and works and aims to deliver improvements right across the sustainability agenda.  Work in this area includes continuing to pay some 180 contractors’ staff the London Living Wage; and delivering 109 job starts and 22 apprenticeships over the past 5 years.

Electric vehicles

In 2016, LFB awarded a contract to replace 100 % of our fleet cars with electric vehicles, with the vehicles being rolled out over the course of that year.  As a result, sixty-six diesel ‘blue lighted’ pool cars were replaced with fifty-two range extender electric BMW i3 vehicles, and 5 plug-in hybrid cars. 

Given the specialist nature of our vehicles, our supplier needed to devise a range of innovative solutions in order to meet our needs. Solutions were identified through close working to ensure there was a clear understanding of our requirements and that the solutions would meet rigorous testing.

As an emergency service the performance of our vehicles is paramount.  We tested various models of electric vehicles over several years to ensure the technology met our needs before incorporating them into our emergency response.  As one the of first organisations to replace all our fleet cars with electric vehicles, they were relatively new not only to us but also our fleet maintenance supplier, requiring close working right across our vehicle supply chain to ensure success through the procurement process and in use.

Our pre-introduction research indicated that electric vehicles would be cost neutral over their life on a whole-life-cost basis and after eight months of use, suggest that these vehicles will save some 93% of fuel consumption.  The new i3 consumes just 42 litres of petrol per year, compared to the 620 litres consumed by each of the older diesel models.  This will result in an estimated annual reduction of 84 tonnes of carbon emitted, and 96% lower NOx emissions.


LONDON DEVELOPMENT CORPORATIONS

The Mayor of London oversees two Development Corporations that are Functional Bodies in the GLA Group. 

London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC)’s purpose is to use the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of the London 2012 Games and the creation of Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to develop a dynamic new heart for east London, creating opportunities for local people and driving innovation and growth in London and the UK.

Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC)’s vision is to create and deliver London homes and jobs to facilitate London’s growth and enhance London’s competitive position in the global economy, capitalising on major national transport infrastructure investment at Old Oak Common in north-west London.

Their approach to procurement encompasses sustainability commitments in water management and conservation, energy conservation and carbon reduction, materials selection, waste management, transport, biodiversity and sustainable lifestyles right across their new construction, venues, parklands and events.

SPP SECTORS

LIGHTING

In 2015, TfL sought to reduce the whole life-cycle cost of lighting the London Underground network. The procurement calculated external costs including installation, maintenance, energy use, carbon and cleaning costs. Indicative results suggest a 25% saving on whole life-cycle costs, and significant reductions in energy consumption. This was the Procura+ Award winning tender in 2016 for Innovation Procurement of the Year.

UNIFORMS

While providing uniform fit for a world class transport system, TfL is actively ensuring that workers producing the garments are treated fairly, wherever they may be in the world. All the factories – in Bangladesh and in China - where the garments are being made are subject to an extensive, independent, third party social audit regime, both before production began and on a regular basis throughout the contract term. TfL also worked closely with the Fairtrade Foundation to ensure that the cotton used in the uniforms is sourced from certified producers, meaning that farmers and workers get a fair deal for their work. This was another first in the UK for a public sector organisation. The Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) has adjudged TfL to be making solid progress with its ethical sourcing programme with some notable improvements.

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