According to the Report on Sustainable Public Procurement for 2019, over 88% of public contracts include social clauses and criteria on the environment and/or innovation. Compared to 2018, the study reflects an increase of 46% in the introduction of social clauses from districts and manager’s offices and over 30% in bodies making up the municipal group.
These clauses promote better labour conditions for workers with the company executing the contracts, the application of equality plans, universal accessibility, the employment of people out of work or those with difficulties finding work, those at risk of social exclusion and the introduction of targets-based payments. The clauses also promote improvements in environmental sustainability such as those in the school-dinner contract for nursery schools, the introduction of local organic food, or, as is the case with fleet vehicles, the acquisition of more sustainable vehicles.
The high percentage of contracts with sustainable procurement measures is the result of a municipal strategy which began in 2016, with the publication of guides on social public procurement, environmental criteria and innovation and the approval of the first mayoral decree on sustainable public procurement. in 2017. The data show that two years after the decree was signed, all the bodies making up the City Council group (manager’s offices, district offices and dependent bodies) regularly included these measures in their tendering processes, in all spheres.
Fewer minor contracts
Moreover, the Report on Public Procurement for 2019 by the municipal group (City Council and municipal bodies) also shows that minor contracts have lost ground in the last three years, dropping from 16.41% of total spending in 2017 to 8.8% in 2019. This reduction was more considerable in the last year, when the number of contracts went down significantly (12,152 contracts), as did the amount spent, with a reduction of 47.6 million euros.