Public Procurement and Property

Find out more about some of our online procurement tools

September 11, 2017 by Sarah McLeod No Comments | Category PCS, Public Contracts Scotland, Public Contracts Scotland-Tender, Scottish Procurement Information Hub

We have three online tools to help the public sector buy goods and services.

• the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) advertising portal,
• the PCS-Tender national eTendering system and,
• the Scottish Procurement Information Hub, an online spend analysis tool.

What is Public Contracts Scotland?

PCS is a website where Scottish public bodies must publish advertisements for regulated procurements. Suppliers can then browse through them and register for email alerts and complete tender responses. There’s also a publicly viewable contract register. PCS helps the Scottish public sector to provide a more transparent tendering process and adhere to EU rules. It provides valuable free contract information to suppliers, builds stronger communication links with buyers and suppliers and stimulates growth in Scotland, increases competition and supports ‘best value’. In 2016, over 15,000 new public sector business opportunities were advertised on PCS and over 21,500 suppliers were awarded public sector contracts.

How is PCS-Tender different from PCS?

PCS-Tender is a secure website that allows buyers to manage their tender exercises. The standard European Single Procurement Document and the invitation to tender templates, which are available on the site, help buyers to create consistent tender documentation. Buyers can also evaluate tenders, award contracts and manage suppliers online in a secure and efficient, legally compliant manner. Currently there are 91 public bodies with over 4000 registered users. There are also over 38,000 suppliers registered on PCS-Tender.

Do you want to know much your organisation spends on goods and services?

For this we have the Scottish Procurement Information Hub, which helps over 100 Scottish public sector bodies to examine their procurement spend by analysing accounts payable data. It helps identify how much is spent on goods and services from third party suppliers and to recognise potential collaborative opportunities. It also helps us track and analyse spend activity with small and medium sized enterprises and identify spend with local suppliers. We’ve also developed a list of statistical reports that can be used in Freedom of Information requests, parliamentary questions and ministerial correspondence.

If you want to know more about these tools visit our website or email us at Scottishprocurement@gov.scot.

Tags: PCS, procurement best practice, Public Contracts Scotland, Scottish Government procurement, Scottish Procurement

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