Ms Anne Stewart:

It is a very valid observation and question. To give some context, the OGP and the Department work extremely closely together.

The Department is responsible for the overall green public procurement policy and the circular economy - the broader context of green and sustainability within procurement. Essentially, what it manages within that, in particular through the EPA, is what exactly is to be purchased and what the criteria are for that.

Where the OGP comes into play is we then facilitate that. We are almost the "how", in the sense of how something is bought. We do that through instructions via our circulars. The current one from 2019 will be updated based on the new actions from the Buying Greener strategy that has been outlined by the Department. We do that through the development of the criteria tool. What that does is to allow contracting authorities, when they are putting their tenders together, to buy vehicles, for example, or paper or whatever else. They can go to the search tool and pull the appropriate green specification for the particular goods or services they are buying and include it as part of their tender process. They are working within their budget, so they need to ensure whatever it is they are buying is within their budgetary control. While we will give them the "how", unfortunately, we do not have any oversight. That is not part of our mandate.