Of the major themes affecting procurement, one of the most pressing is ethical supply chains.
Supply chain ethics is becoming increasingly important to businesses, governments and the public. It is important that organisations consider not only their own practices, but also their entire supply chain, and how it addresses – or does not address – moral issues such as modern slavery and corruption.
As part of its plan to tackle modern slavery, the UK Government has released new tough measures to tackle modern slavery in supply chains.
Learn more about the latest measures below.
Working towards ethical supply chains
The UK has been on a long journey to eradicate modern slavery from its supply chains.
The Modern Slavery Act 2015 made the UK the first country in the world to require large businesses to report on how they prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.
In March 2020 the UK government published the world’s first Government Modern Slavery Statement, setting out the steps taken to eradicate modern slavery from its supply chains on around £50 billion of its annual spending.
The latest announcement from the government means that they can now take forward options for civil penalties for non-compliance with the Modern Slavery Act in line with the development of the single enforcement body for employment rights.
Peter McAllister, Executive Director of the Ethical Trading Initiative, said:
“There is no excuse for any business not to play their full part to contribute to eliminating the scourge of modern slavery.”
All ministerial departments are now working towards publishing their individual modern slavery statements from 2021.
What can suppliers do?
The entire supply chain must address moral issues such as modern slavery and corruption. Like social value, these are issues that will increasingly drive buyers’ decisions whether to work with businesses
Suppliers looking to win public tenders must position themselves as able to deliver on social value and ethics as this will set them apart from other potential competitors.
When writing bids, it’s therefore crucial that suppliers emphasise this element in their responses to tenders to help buyers take notice of them.
Find public sector opportunities
Supply2Gov tender alerts service allows SMEs to be alerted to upcoming opportunities. Supply2Gov has the UK and Republic of Ireland’s largest database of public sector contracts, even publishing more tenders than the Government’s own national contracts services.
Our tender alert service also offers SMEs that are new to public sector tendering a suite of educational content through its Tender Ready Toolkit (available after registration).
Supply2Gov accommodates to all opportunity coverage levels, whether a business is looking for tenders across the whole of the UK – available for flexible monthly payments – or a local area of their choosing, free of charge.