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Public Sector Procurement Duty
Public bodies already have a duty under the Race Relations amendment Act 2000 βto monitor the Equality and Diversity Practices of their suppliers on an ongoing basisβ.
However, it is unlikely that public bodies will stop there.
The 2007 Equalities Review recommends public service contracts should be awarded on basis of diversity.
βThe government-commissioned
Equalities Review recommended that diversity policy should be a key factor when awarding public sector contracts. It said the law should be changed to place greater responsibilities on public bodies, including "a specific requirement to use procurement as a tool for achieving greater equality".
Panel member
Sir Robert Kerslake
told '
Personnel Today' that private firms bidding for public service contracts should be made to provide details of their workforce make-up, and an outline of the steps they are taking to improve diversity.
"This can and should be an important factor in the decision to award contracts," said Kerslake, chief executive of Sheffield City Council. "It is a duty of the public body to actively take into account equality of employment.β (06 March 2007 Personnel Today magazine).
By the end of 2007, public bodies should be able to demonstrate that equality is embedded into each stage of the procurement process, including requirements for supplier employment practices.
Senior procurement managers have also expressed greater support for a policy where equality and employment standards are a core requirement of contracts, and made part of the specification, evaluation and award process.
Department for Work and Pensions current activity
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is collecting baseline evidence on how well its suppliers are currently performing on promoting equality in their employment practices.
By 2012, DWP should be able to report an improvement in supplier performance on equality in employment practices. Suppliers should be able to show that not only are they not discriminating in employment, but where applicable under the new policy are also pro-active in promoting equality in the workplace and applying the same requirements to their supply-chain.
Private Sector activity
Many private sector businesses including Barclays Bank, Microsoft, Dupont, Tarmac, Fujitsu services are also adopting public sector practice around diversity in relation to businesses tendering for their services, not only to support their own values but also with tenders to public bodies in this country and internationally, particularly with businesses in the US where similar legislation has existed for some time.
EQuality Assurance and Diversity Assured Recruitment
EQuality Assurance (EQA) and Diversity Assured Recruitment (DAR) allow public sector bodies and private businesses to easily and effectively check the competence and commitment of their suppliers in the area of equality and diversity.
In the case of public bodies it also enables them to fulfill their positive duty in procurement.
Confirmation of EQA and DAR status allows organisations to quickly identify new suppliers who share their values.
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