10 years in the making – Greens welcome new policy on “ethical” spending.
Green councillors on the committee that approved a new “ethical procurement” policy have welcomed the move.
The new policy is to ensure that money the council spends, on behalf of the people of Sheffield, is spent with the right businesses and not those that profit from global atrocities.
The policy will apply to companies that want to receive public money by doing business with the council. One example where the policy may apply, in future, is the Council’s bank, Barclays, that has received criticism for its support for Israel’s illegal activity in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Cllr Marieanne Elliot, who sat on the Finance and Performance Committee on 25th February, asked whether the “revised policy is now capable of dealing effectively” with the “discretionary exclusion of companies profiting from unlawful occupation of territory and violation of international humanitarian law.”
The Council’s Head of Procurement answered, “it is.”
10-year learning journey
Cllr Douglas Johnson offered his genuine thanks to officers and councillors for the learning journey in this process, noting that he had first started asking questions about this 10 years ago, when he had first met campaigners at a committee meeting in November 2016. He said,
“Although we often say the council has no money, it actually spends a lot each year on behalf of the people of Sheffield. There has been genuine concern that money is spent on the right things – for instance, spending in local businesses is really helpful to the city. We also have duties not to spend on the wrong things and this policy allows us to look at companies’ conduct in this country and all over the world.
“Sheffield is an international city with links all over the world. We have communities that originate from many countries. We have a global perspective and recognise the impact of our actions beyond our national borders. Our diverse communities with family links in many countries help inform our knowledge of injustices around the world. It would be remiss of us if we did not use these powers. The impact on different communities is felt in a disproportionate way.
“I am really pleased the council has addressed the duties under the Equality Act, not just the Procurement Act. It is essential to comply with both.
“There are few examples from other authorities that have grappled with this issue on behalf of their communities. I would like to think this sets an example where Sheffield can lead the way on responsible use of public money so that it does not inadvertently support genocide, atrocities and other war crimes around the globe.”
Notes to editors
- The report and adopted ethical procurement policy can be found at https://democracy.sheffield.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=9663#AI40912
- Green Councillors Martin Phipps and Peter Gilbert also took part in the working group on the ethical procurement policy.
- The government operates a “debarment list” of banned companies but the list is still blank: no business has yet been excluded. The list is at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/68595a94eaa6f6419fade63b/Debarment_List.pdf
- Campaigners at the 2016 meeting were: Annie O’Gara (on behalf of the Sheffield Stop G4S and Palestine Solidarity Campaign), Val Johnson, Hilary Smith, Catherine Gaze, John Grayson (on behalf of the South Yorkshire Migration Action Group (SYMAAG)) and Flis Callow.
- Sheffield’s Ethical Procurement Policy includes:
“the Council will proportionately deploy its resources to scrutinise the activities of its potential suppliers, persons who are closely connected with them (as defined) and their supply chains, to assess whether they have been implicated in excludable professional misconduct, including misconduct that contravenes such international commitments, or have been convicted of excludable offences in the UK or in another country. Such misconduct might include, for example, directly contributing to or profiting from unlawful armed conflict, facilitated through their trading activities the unlawful occupation and exploitation of contested territory or systematically engaging in violations of international humanitarian law (including modern slavery) for profit.
Suppliers that either directly or through intermediaries in their supply chains engage in trading activities in places where competent international organisations, (i.e. the UN, the ICC and others) have identified a high probability that excludable misconduct has occurred will be actively scrutinised for their complicity or support in such behaviour. The examination of instances will be conducted with due diligence on a case-by-case basis and is expected to include the review of supplier disclosures, consulting government debarment lists, examining publicly available evidence, validated publicly disclosed evidence, and considering relevant national and international legal instruments. We will then consider whether there may be a ground for exclusion for labour market misconduct, environmental misconduct or professional misconduct.
This approach supports the Council’s policy that public funds under its control should be applied lawfully through contract arrangements with suppliers, whose trading activities (including through all their supply chains) reflect its values and which are undertaken with integrity.”
