14 May 2010 | Andy Allen

An auditor has lauded the Greater London Authority (GLA) Group’s “exceptional” responsible procurement policies and has held up the group as an example to be followed by all public sector buyers.

The GLA group reached the highest possible standard, level five of the UK government’s flexible framework, contained in Procuring the Future.

The functional bodies of the group are: Transport for London, the London Development Agency, the Metropolitan Police Service and the London Fire Brigade.

Bekir Andrews, a consultant at Romec, which audited the GLA group, said: “There aren’t many organisations in the UK at the moment which are implementing level five of the flexible framework – or level four.”

Andrews praised the interaction of members of the group with their suppliers, and singled out the way the organisations worked together with each other.

“This is a good example of public money being well spent,” said Andrews, who said it was the finest instance of public sector sustainable procurement he had seen.

One example of the work is London Fire Brigade saving almost £97,000 through putting the delivery and return of goods through a Croydon-based brigade distribution centre. This has reduced supply chain delivery miles and warehousing space and and has sped up invoice payment.