§ Mr. Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in what ways environmentally sustainable procurement strategies within the Department have driven innovation in the design and supply of products. [159149]
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§ Maria Eagle: In September 2003, a report signalled how recommendations from the inter-departmental Sustainable Procurement Group (SPG) would be taken forward. Following this DWP introduced revised policy guidance that made it official departmental policy to purchase sustainable goods and services wherever possible.
Guidance is currently being revised to include comprehensive assistance for the Department's procurement officials to achieve this objective. Additionally governance controls for Departmental projects and programmes, which can include major procurement exercises, require that sustainability issues are considered within business cases.
We are now working to include sustainability within several major contracts that are shortly to be renewed as well as reviewing existing contracts for their sustainability impacts. Further work on sustainable procurement and innovation is in hand but it is too early to assess what impact these provisions have had on innovation in the design and supply of products. Information on progress in this area will be included within the annual DWP Sustainable Development Report, which is published in the autumn.