Sustainability
The University takes sustainability seriously and where possible incorporates environmental considerations into its purchasing decisions. The University’s Estates Team web pages (here) showcase the work that the University is doing, and has done, to become more environmentally sustainable.
When issuing tenders and requests for quotes, sustainability considerations will often be built into our requirements and/or used in the assessment of which supplier is best suited to meeting our requirements.
Anti-Slavery
Modern slavery is an overarching term to describe all forms of contemporary slavery including human trafficking, slavery, servitude, forced, bonded and child labour. The University has a legal duty to publish an annual Anti-Slavery Statement which sets out the steps the University has taken, and will be taking, to address this issue.
When selecting suppliers for University contracts, we may seek evidence from our suppliers on the steps they have taken to combat modern slavery in their organisation and supply chains, particularly on areas of expenditure that we’ve identified as being high risk.
We may request copies of modern slavery statements from suppliers. Publishing a statement is a legal requirement for commercial organisations whose turnover is greater than £36 million. We expect our suppliers to work with us on anti-slavery matters. The government has produced useful guidance (here) on the legal requirements for a statement and tips on how businesses can tackle modern slavery. This guidance also provides links to a range of useful resources on this subject.
Failing to maintain an up-to-date modern slavery statement, for those organisations which require one, may result in the supplier being excluded from consideration for a tender opportunity. The requirement for publishing statements is an annual one, meaning that statements need to be revised each year before they are published.