Optional or Obligatory

This is just a short note on two developments from this week.

So the end of halogen light bulb is on the way. The government has this week formally announced the end of the sale of halogen light bulbs from this September, as part of the UK’s wider efforts to tackle climate change and legislation being brought forward this month will include the removal of fluorescent lights from shelves from September 2023.

It will prompt the sale of more LED lights (which make up around 2 thirds of bulbs currently sold in Britain) which last 5 times longer than traditional halogen light bulbs and produce the same amount of light – but use up to 80% less power. The phase out started in 2018 and it is expected that by 2030 LED bulbs will account for 85% of all sold. It is estimated that these measures will stop 1.26 million tonnes of carbon being emitted every year - the equivalent of removing over half a million cars from the UK’s roads.

I think we can agree that unless you are a producer of halogen lights bulbs this is good news – and by the way you’ve had enough time to change your production methods if you do fall into that category…the EU started phasing out inefficient light bulbs in 2009!

It is another case of the government forcing compulsory change on society – similar to the approach to gas boilers in new build properties and ICE vehicles.

In the voluntary box, the Cabinet Office have produced Procurement Policy Note PPN 06/21 ‘Taking Account of Carbon Reduction Plans in the procurement of major government contracts’ which amongst other things states that “As part of assessing a supplier’s technical and professional ability, In-Scope Organisations should include, as a selection criterion, a requirement for bidding suppliers to provide a Carbon Reduction Plan…confirming the supplier’s commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050 in the UK, and setting out the environmental management measures that they have in place and which will be in effect and utilised during the performance of the contract.” A link to the document is here. This applies to central government contracts with an anticipated contract value above £5 million per annum (excluding VAT) which are subject to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, so isn’t relevant to local authorities. Well, it isn’t relevant in terms of the letter of the law but certainly relevant in terms of spirit.

As I have said before, no organisation can consider itself serious about addressing climate change if it isn’t looking at how it spends its money. Councils are big spenders often with very large suppliers so it is appropriate to ask what they are doing to support the council’s objectives in this agenda. Councils should take the message which comes from this PPN and apply the spirit to their own procurement procedures. It could mean asking what carbon reduction plans your suppliers have in place or more specifically whether they are on a renewable energy tariff, use electric vehicles, source supplies locally or train their staff in carbon literacy for example. It may also mean supporting your smaller suppliers to understand the agenda better.   

Actions are not limited to building efficiency or fleet electrification – procurement matters too.