Public Procurement and Property

Our second Scottish Procurement blog of 2022 with Nick Ford

August 2, 2022 by Niamh Duncan No Comments | Category Procurement news, Scottish Procurement, vlog

We recently caught up with Nick Ford to hear his reflections on recent months, highlighting some of the key achievements and successes from across the procurement community.

Looking ahead, Nick also shares some of the things you can look forward to seeing in the near future.

Watch now (transcript available below)

For more on information on what Nick covered:

• Public Procurement Priorities and  summary progress report
• The Plan for The Future
• Scottish Procurement Policy Notes (SPPNs)
• GO Awards Scotland

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Vlog transcript:

Nick Ford, Director of Scottish Procurement and Property
Hi everyone. I’m back with my second vlog of the year.
July also marks two years since I joined Scottish Government as Director of Procurement and Property.
I can hardly believe that two years have already gone. I’m so proud of everything that you have achieved.
How we respond to emerging challenges whilst continuing to deliver for the people of Scotland.

I’m so pleased to see the progress we’re making against our Public Procurement Priorities.
57% of the organisations we recently engaged reported good progress. Such excellent news.
And with the feedback that we gather, we can continue to push forward and improve on the priority areas.
You can read the full progress report on our website.

We continue to equip staff with the best tools and guidance to keep pushing forward, using public procurement to deliver greener, better and fairer outcomes. Following the prompt payment SPPN we published in April, our Procurement and Supplier Journeys have been updated with the enhanced support that you need, and we will continue to work closely with public bodies to do all we can to promote prompt payment down the supply chain.

Led by the Climate Procurement Forum last month, we published SPPN 3/2022, updating previous policy on taking account of climate and circular economy considerations. This SPPN aims to consolidate climate policy and provide some additional support, such as updated standardized statements, and guidance and information on streamlining climate and procurement reporting.
We’ve also added a new chapter to our statutory guidance focusing on Fair Work First requirements in procurement.
We’ve committed to Fair Work and fair pay in our own contracts, and we hope to see the public sector leading the way to a fairer and more inclusive economy.

Speaking of leading the way, just last month, you will have noticed the National Care Service Bill was laid in Parliament.
An ambitious reform of public services that will allow us to develop new ways of supporting ethical commissioning and procurement, and deliver for the needs of the people and the social care workforce.
Much more to come on this as we shape this landmark service.

With so much going on, it’s always nice to step back and recognise our achievements and successes.
It was great to see the recognition for Scotland at the UK National Awards in May.
The awards and the commendations received celebrate our shared passion and ingenuity, as well as our dedication to delivering for the people of Scotland.
My congratulations to all of the winners and a reminder that you have until September the 6th to enter for this year’s Go Awards Scotland with four exciting new categories! I can’t wait to see what you submit.

Looking ahead, we will be publishing a policy note to support organizations in drafting their annual procurement reports.
We’ll also be continuing to champion our own public procurement priorities.
We’ll be collating and reporting on the responses to our recent survey on construction procurement reform.
This provides an exciting piece of work that will improve contracting for, and by industry.

I’m also really pleased that we have launched the Plan for the Future with a number of key cross-cutting workstreams mobilised.
A big thanks to all those who are involved. And if you want to know more, please speak with your Head of Procurement and keep an eye on our website and blog for regular updates.
So thank you all very much for your hard work and I hope this year I’ll actually be able to meet many more of you in person!

Thank you.

Tags: procurement, Public procurement, public sector procurement, Scottish Procurement

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