Sustainable procurement in practice: Lessons from local government

By committing to green procurement, the UK government has taken a key initial step towards sustainable development. But can this be put into practice? This policy analysis explores the background to green procurement in English local government through desk research and data collection, including interviews with five local authorities. It finds that green procurement has been encouraged through legislation, providing information and dismantling barriers, but momentum was lost following the Gershon review. Implementation of the new action plan would ensure green procurement becomes embedded within government procurement. New information to link up green procurement with organisational goals would also expand the horizons of green procurement.