All suppliers are asked to complete our Ethical and Environmental Accreditation as part of the tender process and then on an annual basis for the term of the contract. This ensures that our ethical and environmental values remain at the heart of our commercial relationships, supporting the decisions we make about the organisations we choose to work with.
The accreditation process is designed to:
- Check that an organisation meets our required standards
- Identify any potential areas of concern or best practice
- Provide a benchmark for us to monitor a supplier’s ethical and environmental performance over the term of the contract
The accreditation comprises approximately 60 questions which reflect the environmental, social and economic issues that are most important to the student movement. Core topics addressed include:
- Animal welfare
- Business ethics
- Climate change
- Environmental impacts
- Labour standard
Sedex
While our Ethical and Environmental Accreditation is an important initial assessment of a supplier’s ethical and environmental behaviour, it is often necessary for us to understand more. For example, if suppliers are in industry sectors which are known to be higher risk, if the volume of business we conduct with a supplier is particularly high, or if concerns have been raised by stakeholders.
In such instances, we require that suppliers complete a Sedex Self Assessment Questionnaire and undertake and submit audits through the Sedex system. (We would, however, encourage all of our suppliers to submit additional information in this way).
Second tier suppliers
We recognise that the impacts of our purchasing decisions do not end with the suppliers that we work directly with. In many cases, the real ethical and environmental risks and opportunities are found within the second tier of our supply chain, our suppliers’ suppliers.
Where we feel it is necessary and appropriate, we expect the support of our direct suppliers to help ensure that responsible practices are embedded throughout the supply chain. For example, this may require our suppliers to share the details of the factories/manufacturers that they work with and then encourage them to complete our Ethical and Environmental Accreditation and submit/undertake ethical audits. We would hope that the suppliers we work with share our values and are therefore undertaking similar activity already.
If you would like further information related to our expectations of supply chain management please contact Sophie Sharp, Ethical Supply Chain Coordinator: ssharp@nussl.co.uk
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