Social commissioning as a tool for inclusive cities
Public procurement
Can a governmental organisation exclude companies from a tender if it turns out that the company in question discriminates? And if so, what types of discrimination are grounds for exclusion? Can a contracting authority stimulate a diverse policy among their contractors, through the purchase orders they issue? Tom Huisjes researches this matter for the municipality of Amsterdam.
By the rules regarding procurement for governments, laid down in the Public Procurement Act, all entrepreneurs get a fair chance to win a government contract. The central government, but also municipalities, water authorities, universities and 'speciale-sectorbedrijven' such as Schiphol Airport and the NS, have to comply with these rules for sound procurement practice.
What about the integrity of the companies competing for a government contract?
But what about the integrity of the companies competing for a government contract? For instance, can you exclude a bid for a tender, if it turns out the tenderer discriminates on the labour market? Consider for example the employment agencies that complied with the wishes of their clients to exclude Dutch people of Moroccan, Turkish or Surinamese descent from selection for vacancies, as revealed in 2018.
The public indignation after the Radar broadcast was immense, and the sector promised to improve itself. Yet, a year and a half later, a randomly selected showed little improvement: forty percent of the employment agencies investigated continued to discriminate on the basis of etnic background, if the client so requested.
Can a government stimulate corporate social responsibility by including attention to inclusion and diversity in the conditions of a tender?
Legal challenge
What opportunities do public institutions have to enforce good policy on the contractors they work with? Can a government punish undesirable behaviour, such as discrimination, by exclusion, and stimulate corporate social responsibility by including attention to inclusion and diversity in the conditions when awarding a contract? What is legally tenable and how do we regulate this? Commissioned by the municipality of Amsterdam, the Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 Centre for Public Procurement (UUCePP) is researching the possibilities of public procurement as an instrument for social commissioning.
To this end, PhD researcher Tom Huisjes delves into recently updated legislation: the European directives in this area date from 2014 and were incorporated into the 2012 Public Procurement Act in 2016. "It is a topical subject and there is still a lot of unexplored territory," Huisjes says. This creates the opportunity for unusual research methods: "For example, I compared different language versions of the European directives in this area. The differences in nuance between the various translations gave new insights for their interpretation."
Practice-oriented
"We are very positive about the collaboration with Utrecht 木瓜福利影视 and Tom as researcher within our Social Return team. Especially the practical and active scientific approach makes the research interesting for the municipality of Amsterdam," says Caroline van Campen, senior advisor at of the municipality and member of the Programme team 'Approach Labour Market Discrimination'.
Van Campen: "For example, Bureau Social Return, which supports companies and organisations in the implementation and execution of social return and links them to social challenges in Amsterdam, has already made agreements with employment agencies about social and inclusive commissioning."
The research serves as a scientific basis for our new Guideline on Social Commissioning and the strengthening of social companies based in Amsterdam.
"The first results of the research support us in making choices about tenders within and outside our organisation and the development of a possible label or quality mark, the application of positive measures and award criteria," said Van Campen. "In addition, the research serves as a scientific basis for our new Guideline on Social Commissioning and the strengthening of social companies based in Amsterdam."
Tom Huisjes graduated in European Law and Criminal Law and was a lecturer in European Law at Utrecht 木瓜福利影视. In May 2020 he switched to research under the supervision of professors Elisabetta Manunza and Frans Pennings. Huisjes: "I was immediately enthusiastic about the subject! Because of the collaboration with Bureau Social Return of the municipality of Amsterdam, it is not just theory, there is a clear link to the practice."