Has a battleship invaded corporate social responsibility’s pond? CSR is
usually regarded as a private sector concern, mainly engaging large
listed companies. The public sector has hardly figured in the picture.
When – of all people – a nation’s armed service in the shape of the
French navy starts to look at its social responsibilities (see page
seven), it comes as a bit of a shock.
The public sector has been slow to embrace CSR. Rather as if China and
India weren’t sure they belong to this world. In the UK, for instance,
public sector spending in 2003/4 constituted more than 41 per cent of
the gross domestic product.
The UK’s biggest business and largest employer is not BP or Vodafone,
but the National Health Service. By 2008 it will be spending £90billion
($150bn) a year in a supply chain that extends to dozens of countries
and dwarves the $69bn spent by a global giant like Hewlett-Packard. The
NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency is to publish a Sustainable Purchasing
Strategy next month as part of the Framework for Sustainable
Development on the Government Estate. A commendable initiative, but
years behind the private sector.
Of course, the NHS supplies goods and services of immense benefit to
society. But so do many private businesses. Few pharmaceutical
companies now believe that producing effective medicines renders them
immune to public scrutiny of their behaviour in every respect. Sir
Nigel Crisp, the chief executive of the NHS, evidently realizes this
and has identified the role of the NHS as a good corporate citizen as
one of his five new priorities over the next decade.
But this is about more than managing the reputation of a national
treasure. The NHS has a huge amount to gain from putting its operations
on a more sustainable footing. Through its catering, it can encourage
healthy eating, reducing the cost of treating obesity and other
diseases linked to diet. Through its fleet and logistics operations, it
can cut greenhouse gas emissions and travel-related illnesses: in 2001,
four out of every five miles travelled by NHS staff, patients and
visitors in England and Wales were by car or van. The same holds true
for other public sector bodies, from the Prison Service to the Ministry
of Defence.
Companies have done a lot of the groundwork by developing tools such as
stakeholder dialogue, social and environmental performance indicators
and sustainability reports. The two sectors share common drivers –
retaining staff, saving money, maintaining reputations. Above all,
public and private agents alike are increasingly asked to show they are
accountable.
