Equality and Procurement Training Modules
Module 1 –
Identifying need and creating the specification
Facilitator’s notes and exercise
This exercise can be used flexibly to suit the audience. However, it
works best as a tool for procurement specialists and non specialists,
including equality officers to work through a scenario and input from
their different perspectives.
Give them 45 minutes to read the (short) scenario and then to
discuss the questions. You may want to spend a further 10 minutes
collating feedback and learning points from the exercise for your
organisation.
References
Refer to sections 2 & 3 in the main guidance
Exercise - Waste collection, recycling and equalities
A local authority is about to re-let its waste collection and recycling
contract. The whole issue of household waste collection, (bins v
sacks, roadside collection, numbers of bins, frequency of collection
and so on) is highly contentious and the council’s current service
provides endless copy for the local press. The authority consists of
mainly urban areas, with some rural hinterlands.
Your job is to:
 determine what the real need is, who you will consult and what
the key equalities issues are likely to be for the proposed
contract
 decide whether the specification should be detailed in terms of
inputs, outputs or outcomes
 then determine what you will put in the specification and what
may be put in the terms and conditions.
Some points for facilitators
This exercise is designed to get the participants to think widely
around a service they are all familiar with, and to identify the key
equalities issues that need to be addressed in the contract. It works
well with mixed groups and usually elicits a range of ideas and issues
for the contract.
Additional aims of the exercise could include:
 Facilitate a dialogue and working relationship between
procurement, equality and other key personnel
 Work towards building a shared understanding of the process,
areas of responsibility and the benefits in terms of producing a
more robust specification, through tapping into different areas
of expertise.
To identify the issues, the most useful approach is some sort of
equality analysis or assessment. Ask the participants what kind of
equality issues this highlights.
Given how contentious reforms to the service have been, it would be
a good idea to consult widely if there is not good information already
available:
– Ideally with wide range of users, making sure to pick up migrant
groups, older residents, disabled residents, service managers etc,
finding out their needs, views etc. Use opportunity to explain why
authority is doing what it is doing (landfill tax etc)
Issues that may emerge:
– real problems of disabled or frail residents
– practical issues of access to bins, increasing number and range of
bins, lack of space in or outside to keep them in (some of this
relates to frequency of collections, another contentious area…),
but many of these issues more acute for people in cramped
accommodation etc (e.g. recent newcomers, big families etc).
Fraught issue of frequency can cause frictions in multiple
occupancy buildings.
– lack of understanding of what is required – language needs, or
newcomers
– religious issues, i.e. collecting bins on certain days in some areas
In procurement process:
– build outcomes into specification. What would these look like?
– based on your Equality Analysis, should you include an equality
related award criterion?
– What information should be given to the bidder?
Encourage a debate about the weighting these issues should have in
the overall contract and whether they are a core requirement or
should be put into contract clauses.