Composite M (covering Motions 48 & 49)
Ethical Procurement
“Congress believes that the Scottish Government Procurement Policy should be strengthened to prioritise human rights, ethical practices, and international law. The U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights should play a central role in due diligence processes.
“Congress believes our public bodies should be empowered to exclude companies from procurement:
- when they engage in unethical, illegal, or exploitative practices;
- when their conduct undermines public trust in the ethical standards of our public bodies; and
- when continuing such contracts risk reputational damage to our public bodies.
“Congress believes public contracts should reflect the values of the society they serve. Values rooted in dignity, fairness, and responsibility. Congress expects our procurement systems to uphold these principles.
“Congress calls on the General Council to lobby the Scottish Government to amend the Scottish Procurement Policy Handbook as follows:
Section 14. Human Rights be amended such that:
- In carrying out due diligence, public bodies shall give any assessment of human rights a weight equal to other considerations; and
- Public bodies have a legal obligation to exclude companies from tendering for public supply contracts where the company, or any parent or subsidiary company, is known to have directly encouraged or assisted, financially or materially, the armed forces, security forces, or police forces of any state where there is evidence that those forces have committed war crimes, or have breached the Geneva Convention or the Genocide Convention or any other International Humanitarian Law.
Section 24. Fraud response procedures, anti-competitive practices and cyber security be amended such that:
- Public bodies have a legal obligation to exclude companies from tendering for public supply contracts where the company, or any parent or subsidiary company, has been found previously to have engaged in anti-competitive practices, such as collusion and conflict of interest, cartel activity or bid rigging practices, whether within the UK or in any other market.”
Mover: Edinburgh Trades Union Council
Supporter: Midlothian Trades Union Council
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