Carbon Reduction Plan Requirements For Suppliers

From the beginning of April 2023, for all contracts above £5 million per annum, the NHS will require suppliers to publish a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) for their UK Scope 1 and 2 emissions – and a subset of scope 3 emissions as a minimum (aligning with Procurement Policy Notice 06/21).

The guidance – ‘Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) Requirements for the Procurement of NHS Goods, Service and Works’ – has now been published on the NHS England website to support NHS suppliers to prepare for the milestone.

NHS procurement teams will need to introduce a set of mandatory Selection Questionnaire (SQ) questions in their procurements for new contracts with an anticipated average value of over £5 million per annum. Support is available to procurement and sustainability teams via the NHS Central Commercial Function Hub. 

A range of support is available to help prepare suppliers for the upcoming CRP requirements, including a checking service and additional detail presented in a series of webinars.

CRP Checking Service

NHS England have extended the free Carbon Reduction Plan Checking Service for suppliers until 30 September 2023.

The service provides suppliers with the opportunity to get feedback on their CRP outside of the procurement process by contacting england.crp-check@nhs.net with a copy of their CRP.

Suppliers will need a Carbon Reduction Plan in place that is compliant with the requirements of PPN 06/21 from April 2023, as detailed in the NHS Supplier Roadmap.

Webinars

Weekly NHS England Supplier CRP Webinars, covering:

• What a CRP is.
• How a CRP will be requested within the procurement process.
• Support available to help suppliers create a CRP.
• Time for Q&A with the team.

From April 2023, the NHS require all suppliers bidding for NHS contracts for goods, services, and/or works that have an anticipated contract value above £5 million per annum (excluding VAT), to publish a Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) for their emissions from the sources included in scope 1 and 2 of the GHG Protocol, and a defined subset of Scope 3 emissions, aligning with the government’s Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/21. 

A CRP identifies a supplier’s current carbon footprint and their plan to achieve net zero emissions.

The NHS will require its suppliers to have a publicly available CRP on their website and to share their CRP information as part of the procurement process.