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ABSTRACT
This research analyses public administration accountability practices relating to the social pillar of sustainable public procurement. To that end, we carry out a content analysis of the social criteria (and the indicators applied to report on compliance therewith) incorporated into the procurement files produced by a Spanish regional government between 2017 and 2019, containing over 9,300 pages of contractual content. The results show a significant disconnect between current accountability practices and the promotion of sustainability. Worth noting in this sense is the confusion between criteria and indicators, the use of mere legal compliance unrelated to sustainable public procurement as ‘indicators’, and the fact that the few genuine sustainable public procurement indicators identified do not provide relevant information to determine compliance with the criteria. In this scenario, accounting misses an opportunity to play a mediating role in the implementation of sustainable practices such as those prescribed by the SDGs.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Supplementary material
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/02102412.2022.2145008
Notes
1. In this paper, the terms public procurement and public purchasing are used interchangeably. According to the literature and legislation on the subject, both concepts refer to the entire contractual procedure, from the moment the need arises in an administrative body to contract the provision of a good (or service) for the public, until the contract related to that need has been awarded.
2. Directive 2014/23/UE of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 26, 2014, on the award of concession contracts.
3. Directive 2014/24/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of February 26, 2014, on public procurement and repealing Directive 2004/18/CE.
4. Under contract law, the term criteria is used to refer to the parameters that assess the performance of the subject under study (the bidder in this case) concerning different aspects (Medina-Arnáiz, Citation2017) such as the processes, strategies and goals the subject under study is trying to achieve. These criteria are included in contract clauses (Medina-Arnáiz, Citation2017).
5. ‘Quantitative or qualitative factor(s) or variable(s) that provide a simple and reliable means to measure achievement, to reflect changes related to an intervention, or to help assess the performance of a development actor’ (Parsons et al., Citation2013, p.5).
6. These documents set out the necessary steps to produce the content of the public contract, as an expression of the essential general principles that govern the relations between the contracting authority and the contractor (Supreme Court ruling of 19th March 12,001, of 8th June 1984 or the ruling of 13th May 1982).
7. Law 9/2017, of 8 November, on Public Sector Contracts, transposing Directives of the European Parliament and of the Council 2014/23/EU and 2014/24/EU, of 26 February 2014, into the Spanish legal system.
8. Article 202 of Law 9/2017 requires the introduction of at least one of the special performance conditions. These may relate to economic, innovation, environmental or social considerations. Furthermore, Article 147 offers the possibility of including tie-breaking aspects in cases where, following the evaluation of bidders’ tenders, there is a tie between two or more of them. In the absence of any provisions, the tie shall be resolved by applying, in order, social aspects specified in Article 147.2.
9. Registro de Contratos de Castilla y León (https://contratacion.jcyl.es/web/es/registro-contratos.html).
10. Until 16.04.2018, the Procurement Platform of Castilla y León (https://contratacion.jcyl.es/web/es/contratacion-administrativa.html), and after that date the National Procurement Platform (https://contrataciondelestado.es/wps/portal/plataforma).
11. Resolutions No 192 and No 286/2020 of the Central Administrative Tribunal for Contractual Appeals.
12. Administrative Tribunal for Public Procurement of the Community of Madrid.
13. These special employment centres are considered to be inclusive companies as their main purpose is to promote the employment of workers with disabilities; they are regulated by Royal Decree-Law 2273/1985, of 4 December.