Sustainable Procurement Policy

1. Purpose and scope

1.1  This policy sets out Registers of Scotland (RoS)’s commitment to undertake procurement in a way that supports the improvement of sustainability and the way that this is measured, in line with our Procurement Strategy 2026-2030.

1.2  This policy applies to all RoS colleagues (defined as RoS employees, secondees, contingent workers and Non-Executive Directors), and particularly those involved in procurement exercises including contract managers.

1.3  Through this policy, we will meet and exceed relevant statutory obligations placed on us by the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 and the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2024. This policy also supports the delivery of our Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy and our Environmental Policy, and in turn supports our journey towards net zero.

1.4  Further information is provided in the Sustainable Procurement Action Plan and Procurement Manual, which this policy should be read in conjunction with.

2. Guiding principles

2.1  Through this policy, we seek to demonstrate Corporate Social Responsibility through procurement, meeting needs for goods, services, works and utilities in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis, generating benefits to the organisation, society, economy, and the environment.

3. The policy

3.1  We are committed to minimising negative environmental, social and economic impacts – and maximising positive impacts - associated with the products and services that we purchase.  This includes, where possible: minimising use of physical resources, especially those that are non-renewable and polluting; buying fairly traded goods; and promoting public-social partnerships and local economic development via the use of supported businesses, third sector organisations, SMEs and local suppliers.

3.2  We are committed to applying this approach to contracts, which form the majority of our procurement spend.  We aim to embed sustainability at all stages of the procurement cycle where possible, covering both new contracts and existing contracts.

3.3  We will routinely apply relevant measures to new regulated procurements (i.e. contracts of £50,000 or over) and, where possible, to new contracts of a lower value.

3.4  We will also apply relevant measures to assess and improve the sustainability of contracts already in place.

4. Roles and responsibilities

5. Approval and review

5.1  This policy will be reviewed by the Sustainability Team and Procurement Team and approved by the Policy and Practice Group annually, unless earlier review is required.