Sustainable procurement

To realise best value we have a policy for sustainable procurement to ensure that

  • social, environmental and economic benefits are maximised
  • environmental impacts are minimised
  • sustainable procurement is embedded within the Council.

The policy commits us to consider the true costs of what we buy, using government buying standards for selecting sustainable goods and securing community benefits such as work and training places for local people through our contracts.

Sustainable procurement is a process whereby organisations meet their needs for goods, services and works in a way that accomplishes good value for money on a whole life basis and provides benefits not only for the organisation but also for the society, economy and the environment.

Community benefits

These benefits are one of a range of social and environmental considerations that can be included in public contracts and frameworks.

Community benefits requested of suppliers fall into 6 categories

  • employability and skills
  • education and outreach
  • community cohesion
  • sponsorship and funding
  • fair work practice
  • supply chain and business collaboration.

These benefits are captured, monitored and reported on an ongoing basis using Cenefits, the Community Benefits Management Application.

Living Wage

We are an accredited Living Wage Employer and encourage all suppliers and their subcontractors to pay their employees the Real Living Wage.

Construction Charter

We have a clear vision for construction contractors in Edinburgh and we want to make sure that fair work practices are adopted and complied with. 

Download the Construction Charter Commitements

Modern Slavery Commitments

This is intended to tackle modern slavery by ensuring that the supply chains we procure from are free from modern slavery. We commit to work with fairness and integrity in all aspects of commercial activity and as such has a zero-tolerance approach to slavery and human trafficking.

Download the Modern Slavery Commitments

For further information please review the Scottish Government human trafficking guidance.

Other sustainable procurement policies