Help notes: SUPPLY CHAIN
Does your organisation engage with its supply chain to encourage robust ways of working, in line with your own values?
This question is about considering your suppliers and how they operate. For example, their quality of work, how they treat their staff, consideration of the environment and compliance with regulations.
Considering your supply chain’s vision and values is important because these partners play a role in shaping the overall integrity, quality, and impact of your business. It can also save money in the longer term.
The Duchy of Cornwall are using this survey to reach out to their suppliers. You don’t necessarily have to do the same, but the Duchy is keen to understand whether you consider these matters in your work.
What is a ‘Yes’ for me?
A ‘yes’ means that your organisation thinks about how your suppliers’ practices match up to your own values and you communicate with your suppliers about this.
You could, for example, consider which topics covered in this survey match up best to what is important to your organisation and focus on those.
Does this question apply to me? Is this a regulatory requirement?
This question applies to all suppliers.
Smaller organisations may simply bear these matters in mind, and have conversations with suppliers about them, whereas larger organisations are more likely to have policies and formal measures in place around this.
This is not a regulatory/ legal requirement.
Examples of measures around engaging with suppliers
Starting points
- Communicate your own standards clearly to suppliers, informally and/ or formally
- Identify which areas are most important to your organisation (see example topics below)
- Do some internet searches before engaging with a supplier, or about existing suppliers, to check on relevant topics
- Speak to suppliers about how they work, and ask questions
- Keep channels of communication open and be transparent about progress towards goals on both sides
- Be supportive and work together on areas where you’d like to see improvements
More formal measures (more likely for medium-large organisations)
- Integrate standards into contracts with suppliers
- Embed such a policy into your procurement process
- Have policies in place around engaging suppliers (e.g. a sustainable procurement policy)
- Provide incentives for meeting standards
- Conduct audits and assessment of suppliers
- Engage with existing suppliers around your framework/ policy
Example topics from this supplier survey
Your organisation could consider in which of these areas it would want its own suppliers to have robust ways of working:
| Governance | Anti-money laundering |
| Anti-bribery and corruption | |
| Data security / GDPR | |
| Applying appropriate laws | |
| Insurance | |
| Membership of industry standards bodies | |
| Compliance with relevant ISO standards | |
| Health and Safety | |
| Reputation | Vision and values |
| Supply Chain | |
| Customer engagement | |
| Prompt Payment Code | |
| People | Whistleblowing |
| Anti-modern slavery | |
| Diversity, equality and inclusion | |
| Disability Confident employer | |
| Real Living Wage employer | |
| Pay gap reporting | |
| Employee diversity | |
| Social impact | |
| Sustainability | Environmental policy |
| Greenhouse gas emissions | |
| Illegal deforestation and timber | |
| Circular economy | |
| Biodiversity impact | |
| Water | |
| Environmental Management System | |
| Viability | Quality control |
| After sales service | |
| Social and environmental value | |
| Accreditations or certifications |
More information about sustainable Supply Chains