Guidance and Toolkits for Buyers / Procurement Managers

Guidance for buyers and their internal customers  
 
Advice for public sector bodies on integrating sustainable development into food and catering services contracts. Interim revision of August 2005 to include new advice on composting. 
 
 
DIY guide to implementing the PSFPI - advice for practitioners 
 
The guide is designed to help public bodies in England engage more actively in the Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative, providing step by step advice on how to improve the supply of healthy and sustainable food into the public sector. 
 
 
How to increase opportunities for small and local producers when aggregating food procurement - guidance for buyers and specifiers 
 
Advises buyers and specifiers of food and catering services, who are seeking to aggregate demand by collaborating with others within their organisations or other public bodies, on how to encourage small producers to tender for their business and safeguard the delivery of other PSFPI objectives while abiding with UK public procurement policy and the legal framework. 
 
 
Smaller supplier... Better value (on Office for Government Commerce (OGC) website) 
 
OGC booklet designed to raise awareness of the value for money that small firms can offer and to explore the difficulties they face in trying to win public sector business. 
 
 
Think Smart... think voluntary sector  
 
Home Office and OGC publication to provide all Government departments and NDPBs with best practice guidance on the procurement of services from the voluntary and community sector. 
 
 
Environmental issues in purchasing - joint note from Treasury and Defra  
 
This guide is designed primarily for Government Departments and their agencies, but will also be useful to other public sector purchasers such as Local Authorities, particularly on the EC procurement rules. 
 
 
Aggregation - is bigger always better?  
 
This OGC guide can help public bodies achieve greater aggregation in keeping with recommendations in the NAO's report on smarter food procurement - see www.defra.gov.uk/farm/policy/sustain/procurement/nao-smarterfood.htm. It aims to clarify what is meant by the term 'aggregation'; identifies the possible advantages and disadvantages associated with it; and discusses the key issues that will inform the decision-making process. 
 
 
Social issues in purchasing - EU rules information and guidance  
 
Released by the Office of Government Commerce on 9 February 2006 this guidance focuses on the different stages of the procurement process, and the way social issues can legitimately be incorporated into the purchasing cycle. 
 
 
Public Sector Sustainable Procurement Assessment Tool 
 
The tool is designed by Forum for the Future and the Welsh Procurement Initiative to help organisations undertake an initial evaluation on their sustainable procurement - i.e. where they are now? - and to measure progress. 
 
 
Guidance for procuring school meals  
 
The guidance explains how schools can improve school meals. It also looks at options available to schools such as contracting the service out to a different provider, improving the service provided by the existing contractor or bringing the service in-house, and managing it entirely within the school. 
 
 
Food in schools toolkit  
 
A joint publication by the Department of Health and the Department for Education and Skills consisting of guidance, advice, case studies and templates brought to life by interactive elements such as a "Food Audit", to help schools work towards healthy eating. It covers healthier breakfast clubs, healthier cookery clubs, healthier lunch boxes, growing clubs, dining room environment, water provision, healthier tuck shops and healthy vending machines. 
 
 
MTP's Specification database 
 
Practical advice produced by the Market Transformation Programme for buying a range of good value products that are resource-efficient and do less harm to the environment.