Public Procurement and Property

Our last Scottish Procurement vlog of 2022!

December 21, 2022 by Niamh Duncan No Comments | Category Procurement news, Public Procurement Group, vlog

We recently caught up with our Director, Nick Ford to hear his reflections on 2022. In what has been a challenging year, the procurement and property community has provided invaluable support to the people of Scotland. Watch the video below, a transcript is available at the bottom of the page.

For more from the other members of the Public Procurement Group (PPG) check out our blog from last week.

We’ll be back in the New Year with lots more exciting content, make sure to subscribe to our blog and keep up to date!

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Single speaker Transcript – Nick Ford.

As 2022 draws to a close, it’s incredible to look back and see the progress we’ve made.

Starting the year, we were still mitigating the impact of COVID variants and supply chain challenges.

It would have been hard to think that a year later we would have supported the country through so many new challenges.

What has impressed me the most about our community’s efforts through this year is our resilience.

The passion and tenacity I see across all of our sectors is what allows us to step up again and again.

We have been there this year to support displaced Ukrainian people,
to roll out mass vaccinations, to deliver vital devolved benefits to the people of Scotland, to mitigate the impacts of the cost of living crisis on our public bodies, to support our suppliers and strengthen our supply chains, and to guide the country
into a new hybrid way of working.

And we were also to ensure the fitting and dignified ceremony events could be held to mark the passing of Her Majesty.

So even though 2022 has been a challenging year against a very uncertain economic background, we have made significant progress in many different areas and I’m really proud to see us continuing to drive the forces for achieving 2030 net zero targets and we are continually refreshing our Sustainable Procurement Tools platform to ensure the public sector has the tools they need to create a fairer and greener Scotland.

We continue to support the largest devolution of benefits ever undertaken in Scotland.

Working closely with colleagues in Social Security to make this ambitious programme a reality and delivering essential payments to families with children
and also our disabled citizens.

I’ve seen fabulous collaboration across the sectors in working to prepare Scotland
for a National Care Service.

We’re taking a revolutionary approach to social care that will completely reform how we plan, procure and deliver our care and support our services, which in turn will improve the experiences for those that receive care and the conditions for those that provide it.

Now more than ever, we need fresh ideas and dynamic solutions, which is why we’ve undertaken significant work to improve the public sector’s ability to procure innovation. Through launching Scotland Innovates this year we’ve made it possible
for suppliers and citizens to submit innovative ideas to improve public services.

We’ve also made changes to Public Contracts Scotland to support a major innovation letting buyers engage earlier with the markets to find solutions.

I’m really looking forward to seeing the impact and improvement this work generates next year and beyond.

I’ve also been immensely proud to see the Plan for the Future launched with such enthusiasm.

It’s encouraging to see the cross-sectoral teams coming together and the different workstreams now becoming a reality, particularly the way we’ve co-created the strategy.

This is how we will forge a path forward together.

Building on our ambitions as well as our resilience so we can deliver with maximum impact.

And as we look to the future, we will also need to ensure that we are investing in
and attracting passionate people.

So I’m very pleased to see the success of APUC’s, Future Leaders Programme and
the appetite for the training framework we’re delivering with Scotland Excel.

And unbelievably, this is only a snapshot of what the procurement community
has delivered this year.

There’s incredible work done every day across our public sector organizations,
as they strive to keep Scotland going while working towards a brighter future for us all.

What we do has such a substantial impact on the lives of the people of Scotland.

So I hope you will find some time over the next few weeks to reflect on that.

Think about how the work you have done has contributed to a better Scotland.

And be proud. Be proud of that.

I’ll be back in the New Year with more exciting updates and outcomes.

So until then, enjoy the festivities and a well-earned break.

Thank you all so much and see you next year.

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

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