PUBLIC PROCUREMENT UPDATES
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the alliance for better food and farming www.sustainweb.org

Food Links - Government Office to develop practitioner's netwok

Defra's Food Procurement Unit (FPU) hosted a meeting of NGOs and regional Government Office officials on 10th May in London attended by 30 delegates. The meeting was set up by the FPU in order to share best practice within and across regions. The NGO sector, especially some Food Links UK (FLUK) members, was acknowledged as leading practical developments in public sector food procurement and discussions about how best practice could be shared via practitioner seminars and a supply chain-tailored and accessible web-site. A funding proposal for FLUK to develop such work with Government Offices is being submitted to FPU. For details contact Katherine Quinteros at FPU katherine.quinteros@defra.gsi.gov.uk (who will shortly list NGO activity on the Defra web-site) or Tully Wakeman at East Anglia Food Link tully@eafl.org.uk

Industry lead on procurement, says FAHAP

Following a commitment in the Food and Health Action Plan (april 2005) Defra's Sustainable Public Procurement Taskforce is charged with drawing up an action plan by April 2006 to bring about changes in sustainable public procurement to enable the UK to be among the leaders in the EU by 2009. The Taskforce is chaired by Sir Neville Simms (Chairman of Carillion plc and non-exec Chairman if International Power) who is a leading private exponent of sustainable development. The taskforce's Action Plan will aim to 'stimulate the market to innovate and to produce more cost effective and sustainable options for all purchasers and set an example for business and the public and demonstrate that government and the wider public sector is serious about sustainable development.' Details from tom.lloyd-smith@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Welsh Organic Directory

The Organic Centre for Wales now has a Welsh Organic Trade Directory to help public procurement people find organic suppliers – see www.organic.aber.ac.uk/tradedirectory Further details from Jane Powell jnp@aber.ac.uk At the recent ‘Supply and buy Wales’ conference in Llandrindod Wells on 27th April, the Welsh Procurement Initiative (WPI) published a book of case studies - click Organic Centre for Wales website (pdf).

School Meals Trust

The Department for Education (DfES) last week announced work to develop minimum nutrition standards for primary and secondary schools. The School Meals Review Panel includes dieticians and nutritionists; headteachers, governors and support staff; catering and industry professionals; and is chaired by the former Deputy Chair of the Food Standards Agency Suzi Leather. Observers from key Government departments and the Scottish Executive will also attend. The Panel will advise on a major revision of current school meals standards aimed at delivering a reduction in pupils’ consumption of fat, salt and sugar; and an increase in the consumption of fruit, vegetables and other foods containing essential nutrients, specifically to:

• recommend what form nutritional standards for schools should take in the future;

• strongly consider the introduction of nutrient-based nutritional standards, using the Caroline Walker Trust guidelines as a starting point; and in doing so to bear in mind issues of cost and implementation;
advise whether there are grounds for restricting choice; or restricting or eliminating certain types of food or food ingredients from school meals; and recommend whether certain foodstuffs should be restricted or banned;
advise on the costs and benefits of specifying proportions of fresh/unprocessed food; and in introducing hot food in all schools.

Further details are available via the DfES web-site www.dfes.gov.uk Some commentators from both inside and outside government are anxious to see an emphasis on sustainable food in schools but there is no indication of this to date.

Big Banana

Since 2001 the City of Rome has been serving up over 120,000 organic school meals a day and is also the biggest public sector market for Fair Trade bananas with over a million a month now. Costs of raw ingredients are around 80-90p per meal and additional costs for buying organic have been reduced by changing menus to use more seasonal produce and less meat. These details from Alimenterra ..but more next time...

Free school meals in Hull

A survey carried out by the Times Educational Supplement has found that 1 in 12 primary schools does not have a kitchen and provides only packed-lunch-type meals rather than hot dishes. In Dorset, for example, only two of the county's 140 primary schools provide proper cooked meals. http://www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2088452

TES also reports that Hull has become the first local authority to offer free meals and free fruit to all its primary pupils. The move is believed to be the country's most ambitious plan for healthy eating in schools and adds an estimated £4 million to the authority's food bills next year. Further details via http://www.tes.co.uk/search/story/?story_id=2099648

The school meals cooked up in a real hell's kitchen.

Source: Daily Mail, 24, 5/5/2005. Scolarest, the largest supplier of school meals in the UK, has been strongly criticised by council inspectors from Camden, north London, for serving out-of-date ingredients from filthy kitchens. Various examples of breaches of health and food-safety codes are given, including the use of eggs a month after their sell-by date had expired and a school kitchen so dirty that the head teacher cleaned it herself. There were also complaints about staff preparing meals the day before they were needed, in breach of council hygiene policy.

Organic Regulations

The European Commission has ruled that Article 8 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic farming, as amended by Regulation (EC) No 392/2004, does not apply to catering establishments. The letter - published on the PSFPI web site - clarifies that there is no legal requirement for catering establishments serving organic food to be registered as organic operators. Defra is to discuss with organic certifiers the possibility of them producing a voluntary code of practice to help caterers understand organic principles and comply with customers' expectations. More details (Remember to "refresh" page.)

Events

CIPFA Procurement Events

The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy are offering training on Excellence in Supplier Training and Evaluation in various locations this summer. Contact Mohamed Hans at the Institute of Public Finance mohamed.hans@ipf.co.uk

Publications

Nordic green public purchasing analysed

Public authorities in the Nordic countries frequently set environmental conditions in their procurement procedures, but they are often poorly specified and many appear not to influence actual purchase decisions, a survey for the Nordic council of ministers has found. They survey suggests that greener procurement is widespread in the region. After analysing 258 contract notices researchers found environmental conditions in 60% of Danish and Swedish documents, and 40% and 30% respectively of Norwegian and Finnish ones.

However, "only half of the criteria were well-specified", indicating shortcomings in "the way relevant product-specific environmental aspects are defined and the criteria formulated". Moreover, "in many cases the award decisions were not based on the environmental criteria that were presented in the tender documents: almost half of the criteria were not mentioned in the decisions".

The researchers found environmental criteria frequently in purchases of some product groups, including food and beverages, pulp and paper, office and computing equipment, waste services, and repair, maintenance and installation services. The survey comes against a background of strong official support at both EU and Nordic levels for greener public purchasing. Last year the European Commission published EU guidelines to encourage the practice. To download the report (pdf)

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Compiled by Daniel Keech, Sustainable Food Chains

Sustain: the alliance for better food and farming

www.sustainweb.org

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