Community Benefits in Public Procurement
Social and environmental requirements can be included in public contracts if they comply with the requirements of EU procurement rules and general EU law.
The principles of equal treatment and proportionality have particular relevance to Community Benefit clauses.
Factors to Be Considered in Creating Sustainable Specifications/Targets
- check legal and subsequently policy justifications
- all procurement should achieve Value for Money, having due regard to propriety and regularity (the cost of incorporating community benefit clauses will vary with the requirements)
- contract suitability and capacity need to be addressed on a case-by-case basis
- key components which together indicate the appropriate targeted recruitment and training (TR&T) clauses which can be used in a particular case must be linked. Such components include employment planning, industry capacity, funding, as well as possible route ways for employment support and training providers to facilitate achievement of targeted recruitment and training (TR&T) clauses
- community benefit clauses need to have a direct link to the core purpose of the contract, in order that they can be included in the technical assessment of potential contractors and in award of the contract
- responsibility for the whole process, including implementation and monitoring, needs to be clearly set in advance
- community benefit clauses must be mentioned in any OJEU notice by the contracting authority and throughout the procurement process
- to avoid any form of discrimination, including indirect discrimination, the wording of community benefit clauses needs to emphasise 'social inclusion characteristics' and cannot be aimed specifically at employing people from a certain locality, of a certain age or sex, etc. Targeted training is permissible
- indirect discrimination, to the disadvantage of non-local contractors, must be avoided
- contracts should be monitored to ensure compliance with specified outcomes.
The following report and accompanying guidance provide -
- Legal and policy context
- Case Studies
- Outcomes and good practices and
- A toolkit of appropriate clauses