Public Procurement and Property

Supporting the introduction of New Benefits in Scotland

August 30, 2022 by Melissa Reilly No Comments | Category More Powers, More Powers Implementation Procurement, Scottish Procurement, social security scotland

With the launch of Adult Disability Payment on 29 August 2022, we’re pleased to welcome a blog from our ‘More Powers Implementation Procurement Team’ (MPIP) to reflect on the important role procurement has had in enabling this impressive milestone to be reached.

Background

Adult Disability Payment (ADP) replaces the Personal Independence Payment and Disability Living Allowance that are currently delivered through the Department for Work and Pensions and will affect over 300,000 Scottish citizens.

The team have also supported the launch of Scottish Child Payment Child Disability Payment and numerous Low Income Benefits which is the largest devolution of benefits ever undertaken.

Over the past 6 years they have worked hand in hand with Social Security Directorate and Social Security Scotland to engage with suppliers and generate contracts to support the delivery and development of key systems and support. The type of contract has ranged from IT systems; licences and key resources, to electric vehicles and furniture.

The volume and intensity of the support required has resulted in the creation of a Dynamic Purchasing system to support specialist Social Program Management Resources and Projects.  The contracts let through this have been pivotal to the successful launch of all benefits to date.

Next up, we hear how this significant project contributes to our four outcomes for public procurement:

• Good for Businesses and their Employees,
• Good for Society
• Good for Places and Communities
• Open and Connected

Good for Businesses and their Employees

Since late 2016, the team have delivered over 200 procurement exercises and engaged a number of key and highly specialised Interim staff to support this implementation of Social Security Scotland.  This has ranged from ICT platforms and development contracts to procuring specialist licences and key digital staff.

Suppliers have ranged from SME organisations to large multi-national concerns.

Good for Society

• Supported Businesses were engaged to provide furniture for Social Security Scotland premises in Glasgow and Dundee.
• Supporting Scotland’s #LetsDoNetZero ambitions, the team successfully procured Social Security Scotland’s first batch of three Hybrid vehicles. This was closely followed by three fully electric vehicles. Social Security Scotland have recently added a further three electric vehicles to their fleet.

Good for Places and Communities

• As a result of these contracts, 29 Modern Apprentices from areas of deprivation throughout Scotland will/have been engaged and given the opportunity to develop a successful career.

 Open and Connected

The team have worked closely with both Social Security Directorate and Social Security Scotland, adapting the procurement approach to reflect the values of each organisation.

They also collaborated with other government departments to share knowledge and experience of agile procurement and to share good practice, this included Ministry of Defence; Cabinet Office; Department of Work and Pensions; Companies House and the Insolvency Service.

• Applying Lessons Learned to support Agile Delivery

Many lessons have been learned and new approaches implemented.  This has been particularly noticeable in the approach to pricing which now takes account of a greater reliance on home working and potentially changing working environments. Schedules have also been improved to support the use of Statements of Work – the preferred agile approach to delivery.

• Adapting Terms and Conditions during COVID

Terms and conditions were also adapted to reflect the impact of COVID – this included  the addition of specific COVID-19 clauses to accommodate remote and off-shore working during the crisis.

Customer Testimonials

“I have never had a poor level of service- it is always friendly, efficient and such a fantastic support. The team have always went out of their way to help me in any way they could”

“The support received from the team was excellent in all areas!”

“I have always received excellent service. They are very collaborative and work so well with us”

“The advice, guidance and support provided has been outstanding”

“While there has been quite a significant overturn of key staff in the past year, however there has been no gap in service and new staff have very quickly learned the programme and provided support where required”

For further information on public procurement in Scotland please visit www.gov.scot/procurement

Please email enquiries to scottishprocurement@gov.scot

Follow us online:

Tags: more powers, social security scotland

Comments