Skip to main content

This site is in development. We are adding more suggested actions and will continue to add resources and functionality over time. Provide feedback to help us improve the site.

Climate Ambassadors

Funded by the DfE, Climate Ambassadors match volunteer climate experts with education settings.

Let’s Go Zero Climate Action Advisors

Part of Let’s Go Zero, Climate Action Advisors are independent experts who offer free support for schools, colleges, and nurseries across England.

How to choose contractors and suppliers

Your setting can go a long way towards becoming more sustainable with the skills and resources it already has. At some points, however, you may need a contractor or supplier to help out. This guidance will help you find one.

Understand your needs

First, scope the requirements of the service you’re looking to commission. If you’re unsure, speak to:

  • colleagues from relevant parts of your organisation, such as business, finance, operations or estates
  • peers from your personal and professional networks
  • governors
  • trustees
  • your Local Authority
  • your central team, if you belong to a group such as an academy trust

You may also get support from one of these free Department for Education (DfE) services:


Sustainability credentials

Look for suppliers that are committed to sustainability and align with your values and goals. Using suppliers with good sustainability practices will reduce the indirect emissions of your setting - also known as your Scope 3 emissions. This contributes to making your setting more sustainable overall.

The sustainability credentials you look for will vary with the type of service and the size of the organisation providing it. You might look for some, or all of the following:

  • a published sustainability strategy, policy or goal
  • voluntary commitments, such as these examples from WRAP (this link opens in a new tab)
  • sustainability commitments, such as
    • Net Zero targets
    • travel, waste, packaging and single use plastic policies
    • impact on nature and impact on biodiversity policies
  • evidence that the supplier is making progress against their commitments

Evidence of progress will help prove that a supplier is genuinely committed to sustainability, not just trying to seem sustainable to win business (also known as greenwashing (this link opens in a new tab)). Ideally, they will be able to demonstrate progress against science-based targets, and have that progress independently verified.

Larger organisations might also have:


Education credentials

To assess their suitability to work with your setting, consider these questions about potential suppliers:

  • have they worked in education before?
  • do they have any testimonials or references?
  • do they have the appropriate levels of safeguarding policies and procedures in place, including DBS checks for working on site?
  • do they have appropriate healthy and safety processes for working in your setting?

Social responsibility credentials

You may also consider if they are a socially responsible organisation, and if they demonstrate how they add social value. You might look at whether they:

  • engage meaningfully with employees, customers, and the community
  • ensure fair wages and safe working conditions
  • promote diversity and inclusion
  • support local and charitable causes
  • develop products or services for social and environmental benefit
  • report regularly and transparently on their operations
  • focus on their long-term impacts

Review existing service providers

If you have an existing supplier or contractor, you may want to work with them to deliver your sustainability goals. Before requesting additional services from them, consider if they are the best fit:

  • do they have the relevant skills, experience and qualifications?
  • do they represent the best value?
  • do they demonstrate a wider organisational sustainability commitment, and align with your sustainability goals?
  • are they local?

You may also need to go through additional procurement processes to continue using them:

  • is the length of your existing agreement long enough to deliver your new sustainability projects, or do you need to extend it?
  • would using your existing supplier comply with financial and procurement guidelines?

You may need to include your existing supplier in a competitive procurement process before awarding additional work packages.

Procurement process

Understand what your requirements are from a procurement standpoint, and what support is available to help.

Procurement compliance

There is a legal obligation (this link opens in a new tab) on education settings to ensure value for money when procuring any new goods, works or services. Additionally, any purchases your setting makes that go over the threshold defined by the Public Contracts Regulation 2015 (PCR) will need to follow a competitive tendering process.

To ensure compliance, you should:


Guidance and support

Here is a selection of the procurement guidance available:


Procurement frameworks

For formal procurement processes, you might want to use a Public Sector Framework, where appropriate suppliers and contractors have already been pre-selected and pre-qualified. General examples include:

There are several frameworks available that are specific to sustainability for example:


Where to find a service provider

You can look for a reputable service provider from sources such as:

  • Local Authority advisors
  • Local Authority approved supplier lists
  • your personal and professional networks

Directories

These directories are aimed at specific setting types, but may provide guidance to all settings.

Schools and early years settings

Further and higher education


Trade organisations

Check if there is a professional body or trade organisation that accredits the service you’re looking for. These organisations can provide guidance on:

  • areas of expertise and specific qualifications
  • codes of conduct and best practice
  • fee structures
  • levels of insurance and indemnity
  • registered organisations, their specialisms and location

Trade organisations you may come across in your sustainability journey include: