Ethics and Values

The University is committed to taking a sustainable approach to its purchasing activity. The University's Executive Team endorsed the Sustainable Procurement Statement in 2021, which outlines how we aim to embed sustainability into our purchasing activity.

The Sustainability Team works closely with NTU Procurement to provide specifications and criteria to be included during the tender process, particularly in high impact areas such as travel and transport, food and construction. The team also provide  guidance, tool kits and useful web links so that staff can give due consideration to the sustainable impacts of their purchasing activity when making purchasing decisions.

Supply Chain

In line with our environmental and societal objectives, suppliers who have been part of a successful tender process are required to sign up to the NETpositive Supplier Engagement Tool and Net Zero Carbon Supplier Tool. These tools  help to drive a more sustainable supply chain.

The North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium Ltd (NEUPC) has recently become fully affiliated with Electronics Watch (EW) on behalf of its membership. As a member of the NEUPC, NTU now has full access to EW, which is an independent organization dedicated to promoting labour rights in the global electronics industry through responsible public purchasing

Investments

NTU recognises its responsibility to take account of social, environmental and ethical considerations in its activities, including financial investment.

Our Treasury Management Policy includes a section on Ethical Investment and states that "the University will consider ethical implications of investments alongside commercial opportunities".

In April 2019, NTU signed the Fossil Free Declaration, affirming that NTU holds no investments in extractor fossil fuel companies, and it will never invest in these companies.

A list of all investments is included in the University’s Accounts which are published annually and publicly available online.

NTU's investments and investment policy are reviewed at least annually by the Finance Committee and approved by the Board of Governors. Implementation and progress towards Ethical Investment Policy objectives are evaluated at least annually at the Strategy, Policy, Finance and Resources Committee.

Stakeholders also have the opportunity to express their views and concerns about the investments NTU holds to the Finance Committee by emailing the Sustainability Team.

NTU supports staff and student partnerships with local communities for sustainable development.

As part of Enterprise Week, NTU's Sustainability Team has sponsored a ‘Green Dragon’ award for several years to encourage students to embed sustainability into their business.

NTU follows guidance on the UKCISA website for student fee classification. We also offer a discretionary student hardship fund as part of the Equal Access Agreement. As outlined in the Equal Access Agreement, NTU also provides two Article 26 Scholarships. We also run the Success for All initiative.

Our Access and Participation plan reflects how NTU supports students with finance. Furthermore, our Bursaries and Scholarship statement reflects our efforts to ensure all students have access to some funding. This includes:

• asylum seekers;
• those granted status as a result of an asylum claim;
• and those from forced migrant backgrounds.