Gavin Rimmington, Head of Public Sector, YPO
Shelley Heckman, Director, iNetwork
We all share a common goal to deliver net zero by 2050. The public sector has started its journey in responding to the target, with nearly all local authorities in England declaring climate emergencies.
Many public sector organisations have plans and strategies in place to create change and meet the target – but as top-down global priority, what role can we play locally and regionally, and how can local public services take a leading role in decarbonisation? There’s a need to collaborate and innovate – so how can procurement help?
Together with YPO, we’re delighted to host a wide range of speakers for a full week of activity and debate. Join us for a webinar, sharing case studies and experience, take away practical tips and tools from one of our masterclasses, or interact with us on a Q&A panel to hear views and thoughts, tackling your big questions.
10:00 – 11:15 Towards a net zero public sector: where are we now?
Opening panel of Net Zero Week. This session will set the context of the week’s activities by speaking with colleagues across local government and the NHS to reflect on why decarbonisation is a top priority for the sector, what has been achieved so far, and where we are now with a focus on the role of public procurement.
Facilitator: Shelley Heckman, Director – iNetwork
Heidi Barnard, Group Head of Sustainability – Northern Care Alliance NHS Group
Jon Emmett, Senior Policy and Programme Officer, Sustainable Development – Greater London Authority
Nichola Cooke, Assistant Director – STAR Procurement
Peter Leighton Jones, Senior Climate Change Programme Manager – Wakefield Council
2:00 – 3:00 Procurement policy and the social value imperative
This session will cover a range of factors relating to procurement policy and the social value imperative, including national policy direction, the LGA National Advisory Group and addressing the question ‘why is social value more important than ever to deliver social, economic and environmental outcomes?
Facilitator: Gavin Rimmington, Head of Public Sector – YPO
Darren Knowd, Head of Procurement, Sales and Business Services – Durham County Council
10:00 – 11:15 Decarbonising local public services: strategy development and implementation
We know that public services have a critical role to play in the achievement of Net Zero, but knowing where to start can often be a challenge. Setting a clear and engaging strategy can be one of the best ways to deliver the change we need.
This session will invite senior strategy, sustainability, and procurement leads from two leading city regions, and one of the largest rural authorities in England, to consider what constitutes effective development and implementation of decarbonisation strategy.
Facilitator: Louis Stockwell, Stakeholder Engagement Manager – iNetwork
David Houliston, Strategic Lead for Policy and Programmes – Manchester City Council
Kevin Draisey, Head of Procurement and Contract Management – North Yorkshire County Council
Mike Sewell, Plan Zero Director – Mitie
1:00 – 1:45 Getting to grips with our emissions: analysing carbon output
To effectively decarbonise the public sector, a thorough understanding of our emissions, both from our organisation’s operations and throughout our procurement and supply chains is essential.
In this session we welcome Martin Budd (Hull City Council) and Cecily Church (Guinness Partnership), two climate change and sustainability managers with over 16 years’ collective experience, to consider the importance of carbon measurement and analysis. Speaking from Local Authority and Housing perspectives, Martin and Cecily will share their insights on how to effectively measure emissions in the sector, why it is important to do so, and how emissions analysis can support better understanding of where carbon-heavy activities are and where to prioritise action.
Martin Budd, Climate Change Manager – Hull City Council
2:30 – 3:30 Decarbonising social housing
Meeting our targets will require a range of actions across all sectors. Housing is a vital area, in this session, we will hear from Rachel Evans, Sustainability Officer – The Guinness Partnership and Jon Moorhouse, Architect, Manchester City Council. They will be sharing insights on how to boost decarbonisation efforts in housing and construction and how we can work together to radically reduce emissions.
Facilitator: Louis Stockwell, Stakeholder Engagement Manager – iNetwork
Jon Moorhouse, Director – Constructive Thinking
Rachel Evans, Sustainability Officer – The Guinness Partnership
10:00 – 11:15 Journey to a net zero UK: decarbonising transport and logistics
The session will explore how transport and logistics have changed and will continue to change in support of the net zero carbon agenda. A facilitated panel discussion will explore the priority of greater adoption of both fleet and personal electric vehicles along with increased active and public transport, and the role that these can play in carbon reduction.
Looking at what has been achieved so far, where the public sector is going, and the challenges to be overcome, panelists will be encouraged to consider these issues from policy development, implementation, procurement, and commissioning perspectives.
Facilitator: Ian Reed, Fleet Category Manager – YPO
Neil Hind, North West PPE and Sustainable Procurement Lead – NHS England and NHS Improvement
Peter Eggeman, Programme Manager Fleet – Energy Saving Trust
Simon Ralphs, Chief Executive Officer – Telematicus
Richard Nickson, Programme Director for Cycling and Walking – Transport for Greater Manchester
2:00 – 3:15 The road to net zero – an energy perspective
During this session, we’ll hear from YPO’s energy suppliers as they explore what net zero means for utilities in the public sector, and how targets and reductions can be met through effective procurement and management.
Facilitator: Daniel Veasey, Energy Category Manager – YPO
Ben Young, Senior Key Account Manager – Corona Energy
Gareth Metcalf, Public Sector Manager – Npower
Oli Shelley, Head of Operations – Wave
Vanessa Adams, Client Partner – Utilidex
10:00 – 10:45 Decarbonisation across health and social care/ICSs
This session will explore decarbonisation across health and social care and the role of Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) in this.
Facilitator: Andy Perrins, Social Care Category Manager – YPO
Claire Igoe, Head of Environmental Sustainability – Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
11:00 – 11:45 Product switching and recyclable materials – worth the cost?
This session will explore the priority to switch to lower carbon and recyclable materials with a look at how this has been achieved and the benefits delivered through procurement at Greater Manchester NHS. This session will explore the conflict between environmental and price-driven procurement, and to what extent the sector can justify switching to products/materials with a lower carbon but higher monetary cost.
The session will also explore how the public sector can work more closely with suppliers on this issue.
Facilitator: Louis Stockwell, Stakeholder Engagement Manager – iNetwork
Neil Hind, North West PPE and Sustainable Procurement Lead – NHS England and NHS Improvement
1:00 – 2:00 Getting to grips with environmental social value in public procurement
There is growing recognition across the public sector that ‘better’ spending, in the form of social value in procurement and contract management, is a powerful lever in the hands of policy makers who want to affect progressive change for people and place. With many public sector organisations now considering specific environmental social value weightings in their procurement, it is more important than ever to engage closely with local suppliers, SMEs, and other stakeholders to ensure mutual understanding of the importance of environmental social value, and how it can be delivered in practice.
This session brings together public procurement and private sector colleagues to discuss how a mutual understanding of environmental social value across sectors can be developed, and the crucial role that this can play in both effective co-design and decarbonisation.
Facilitator: Duncan Spokes, Strategic Procurement Manager – YPO
Gillian Askew, Director – Go4Growth
Jamie Cooper, Category Manager – STAR Procurement
Richard Tibbatts, Head of Contract Management – Birmingham City Council
3:00 – 4:00 Invest to save for climate change in Durham
This case study session will share experiences and practical examples from Durham City Council and what it’s doing to tackle climate change – discussing its response with Durham’s corporate invest to save approach.
Facilitator: Gavin Rimmington, Head of Public Sector – YPO
Darren Knowd, Head of Procurement, Sales and Business Services – Durham County Council
10:00 – 11:00 Procurement as a key enabler of your net zero targets
In this final session, a panel of senior public sector climate change and procurement experts will reflect on the key insights that have been highlighted during Net Zero Week. Panelists will be invited to consider the progress that has been made on our decarbonisation journeys so far, as well as what our priorities should be going forward, and the challenges that we may face along the way. Finally, we will consider how procurement can be used to tackle the climate emergency, and the crucial role that the local public sector can play in leading by example to truly champion the decarbonisation agenda.
Facilitator: Simon Hill, Managing Director – YPO
Holly Wilson, Head of Strategic Procurement – Doncaster Council
Jo Osborne, Regional Commercial Director – Blue Light Commercial
Kevin Draisey, Head of Procurement and Contract Management – North Yorkshire County Council
Peter Schofield, Head of Integrated Commissioning and Procurement – Manchester City Council