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Social Procurement in NSW: A Guide to Achieving Social Value through Public Sector Procurement Burkett I and Newman C (2012) SPAG The NSW Social Procurement Action Group (SPAG) came together in late 2011 with a specific agenda – to increase understanding and activity in the growing field of social procurement. Across NSW there were some exciting examples emerging, with Government at all levels using procurement as a strategic tool to drive social outcomes, particularly in … Continue reading →

Corporate Social Procurement in Australia Bonwick, M. and Daniels, M. (2014) Social Traders and The Faculty This piece of research is the first report of its kind in Australia and quite possibly in the world that seeks to specifically know more about corporate social procurement including what’s being done, how it’s being done, what the impediments are and how corporate social procurement (CSP) can be supported to grow. The report is timely in that it … Continue reading →

Tackling poverty through public procurement Richard Macfarlane, with Anthony Collins Solicitors (2014) Joseph Rowntree Foundation The rise in interest in social procurement is international. In the financially austere environment facing the UK there is a need to find new ways of creating employment for the most marginalised. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation undertook research to understand the role of public procurement in creating employment opportunities for those that are currently outside of the labour market and … Continue reading →

Social Enterprise: making it work – a case for social procurement Mark Quinn, Charter Keck Cramer (2011) AMES Having looked at impact measurement for ‘local buy’ and Fairtrade social procurement, both of which have been heavily evaluated, we come to social procurement delivering employment to marginalised groups. A number of welfare and advocacy organisations have pointed to the value of increasing employability through social procurement but there is scant information available in that directly captures … Continue reading →

The Last Ten Years: A Comprehensive Review of the Literature on the Impact of Fairtrade Valerie Nelson and Barry Pound (2009) Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich With €2.9 billion euro p.a. spent on Fairtrade products in 2008, socially aware consumers and organisations are big business. Fairtrade seeks to eliminate exploitation from the supply chain and generate lasting benefits in the producer communities. Most of the understanding of the impact of Fairtrade comes through stories … Continue reading →

The Multiplier Effect of Local Independent Business Ownership Jeff Milchen American Independent Business Alliance Measuring the impact of social procurement is obviously important. Whilst stories, intuition and outputs are enough for some to engage with social procurement, policy makers and government require more evidence. Due to the diversity of social procurement approaches, benefits and industries there is no universality in how and where the impact of social procurement has been measured. This web article and … Continue reading →

Purchasing social good(s): a definition and typology of social procurement Craig Furneaux & Jo Barraket (2014) Public Money & Management, 34:4, 265-272 Social procurement has gained attention in modern public management however, considerable differences exist in understanding what social procurement actually is. This confusion has inhibited the growth of social procurement internationally and in Australia. The term has multiple meanings which are all explored in this paper. Barraket and Furneaux identify that social procurement is … Continue reading →