Responsible Procurement Section 1 (RP Section 1)

RP Section 1is a light touch tool used within the Higher and Further Education Sector with a focus on our aim to become net zero, procure ethically and have relationships with suppliers that protect and value their employees and the environment. The purpose of the tool is to ensure supplier compliance with sector objectives set out in our tender documents, such as ethical supply chains, fair working conditions, and reducing environmental impact.

All contracted suppliers are required to provide information within three months of contract award via a dedicated portal. Information has to be provided against each financial year and can be updated at any time, should be always up-to-date and must be reviewed in advance of contract management meetings.

The Questionnaire includes the following key areas and information requests:

Company Data

As public body organisations, Universities and Colleges have an obligation to perform due diligence on their supply base, which ranges from local sole traders to large multi-national enterprises. This section collects essential information about your company, including its primary functions, turnover, staff numbers, SME status, and organisational structure. This data helps us understand your company’s general standing, legal reporting requirements, and other indicators such as market share or influence.

Ethical Supply Chain

Human and labour rights abuses affect every supply chain. Under current UK legislation (Modern Slavery Act 2015), companies with a turnover of at least £36 million are required to publish an annual Modern Slavery Statement to describe the actions they are taking to address similar risks of abuse. This section focuses on your company’s commitment to ethical supply chain practices, including the publication of a Modern Slavery Statement, adherence to a Supply Chain Code of Conduct, and measures to mitigate risks of human and labour rights abuses. This information is crucial for ensuring ethical procurement and supply chain processes.

Environmental Impact & Carbon Reduction

The current climate emergency requires concrete efforts to reduce carbon emissions to net zero. This section addresses your company’s environmental impact and carbon reduction strategies. It includes questions about your Carbon/GHG Emissions Reduction Plan, net zero targets, and current emissions reporting. This information helps us understand your commitment to environmental sustainability and compliance with legal and regulatory targets.

Fair and Decent Working Practices

Fair work practices directly impact the quality of services delivered, goods supplied, and works performed. This section examines your company’s commitment to fair and decent working practices, including payment of the Real Living Wage, support for workers’ voice, investment in training and development, efforts to tackle the gender pay gap, and flexible working practices. This information is essential for promoting high-quality and fair work across the labour market.

The combined information allows us to gain insight into your company’s general standing, commitment to preventing modern slavery, addressing climate change, and your pledge to fair and decent working practices for your staff.

Sustain Supply Chain Code of Conduct

Background

The ‘Sustain’ Project – was a Sector wide collaboration to establish a single supply chain code of conduct for use across the HE and FE sectors. It aimed to understand the Social, Ethical and Environmental standards and behaviours of the sector’s suppliers, to set minimum standards and to provide a platform for supply chain performance improvement.

The original Sustain Project working group members from 2013 onwards were:

• Procurement staff University of Edinburgh, University of Aberdeen, University of Dundee, APUC and University of Stirling
• Sustainability managers from Glasgow School of Art, University of Edinburgh, University of Aberdeen
• Student representatives (institutional and independent organisations) from University of Edinburgh, University of Aberdeen, University of Dundee, EUSA , AUSA and NUS (Scotland)
• People and Planet
• EAUC

The Code of conduct was adopted by all of Scotland’s Universities and Colleges, with the London Universities Purchasing Consortium adopting it shortly afterwards after consideration by a multi-stakeholder working group.

On the 21st January 2020, the Sustain Supply Chain Code of Conduct was endorsed by the HEPA Responsible Procurement Group as the recommended UK HE sector standard supply chain code of conduct.

The Sustain Project Group retains its original membership but has now been joined by representatives from HEPA, further UKUPC consortia, and a multitude of sustainability and procurement experts from institutions from across the UK.

A major update of the Code took place at the end of 2019, with a planned bedding-in review scheduled for the end of 2020, which happened as planned. The UK wide Sustain Review Group undertook a further periodic review of the Code in late 2025 which has brought increased clarity in some of the content and updated references to external standards and organisations mentioned. The updated version was endorsed by the UK FHE Responsible Procurement Group on 5 November 2025 on behalf of the UK HE sectors procurement & sustainability communities.

The latest version is available from this Link – Word versions are available on request from APUC.

The Sustain Supply Chain Code of Conduct may be used by any member of all UKUPC consortia, HEPA and / or EAUC, and by the members of the Sustain Project. If used, the title ‘Sustain Supply Chain Code of Conduct’ title must be used (although local prefixes to this can be added) so that suppliers and other stakeholders know it is the same widely adopted code of conduct that they are working to. For the same reason, the numbered clauses in the code must be used in their entirely without any deletions, amendments or additions, if it is modified in breach of this, permission to use any of the content in any form is withdrawn. Organisations may however insert graphics relating the clauses to the UN SDGs, a good example of this can be found on the University of Manchester’s website. The document will be periodically reviewed but changes will be minimised to avoid confusion for suppliers and complexities in contract management that could be caused by multiple versions being in use at the same time. Parties who may wish to use this Sustain Supply Chain Code of Conduct who are not members of a UKUPC consortia or a member of HEPA or EAUC (or one of the members of the Sustain Project), should contact APUC Ltd for permission in writing. APUC Ltd operate as the custodian of the copyright in support of Sustain Project members.

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