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Our carbon journey

PCC is delighted to provide support to various public sector bodies, in particular the NHS. To facilitate this, PCC is required to meet procurement requirements, including those contained in Procurement Policy Note (PPN)06/21. The Policy Note was published to support the UK government’s target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The Policy Note set out that suppliers bidding for in-scope government contracts would be required to develop and publish a Net Zero Carbon Reduction Plan. Currently this applies to frameworks or contracts with a value in excess of £5 million. From April 2024 the value of the contract will drop to zero.

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To prepare for this PCC put together a small working group who looked at what the organisation already had in place in the way of environmental and sustainability objectives what data we will need to collate and where it would come from, what targets we would need to meet and the actions we would need to take to meet those targets. Once these areas were identified the working group set up mechanisms to collect and record the data and develop a consistent approach to calculating our CO2 emissions. On the whole we were able to collate the data from existing sources, although sometimes team members and our external associates were (and are) quizzed on where they had been and by what method.

To support us through this process we engaged the services of Green Small Business (GSB). They helped us to understand the various aspects we needed to consider to measure our emissions and how to manage our environmental impacts better. Their approach, which follows similar principles to ISO14001, was suited to a business of our size. They initially provided us with a ‘Making it Easy’ pack which started us on our journey. This gave us the ability to consider and develop tools to manage a lot of the process ourselves but GSB were also there to provide guidance. With their support we developed an action plan which allows us to set target dates across all areas of the business and access guidance to support our carbon reduction – this includes ideas for our office space, travel, our own suppliers (including pension providers, banks and insurance companies) and general environmental tips. Not all areas can be measured but each action will lead to a reduction in emissions. Following a review of our processes and plans for the future we were delighted to achieve a Green Small Business certification in May 2023. Our action plan is reviewed monthly to assess our progress and identify our next steps so we can demonstrate our ongoing improvement in the management of our environmental impacts.

PCC commenced measurement of its CO2 emissions in August last year and has now published its first carbon reduction plan which can be found on our website.

We have set an ambitious target to reach net zero by 2030. Please be assured that when you are thinking of working with PCC, we are actively working to reduce our carbon footprint and responsibly addressing environmental and sustainability factors across all our work areas. We will also do our best to support you to meet your targets. PCC continues to provide support via virtual platforms which help us all to reduce our emissions, but rest assured we are also happy to provide in-person support, working with our clients to factor in carbon reduction options.

Wendie Groves, Head of business support, PCC.

Last Updated on 30 November 2023