Public Procurement and Property

SME and Third Sector Procurement Action Plan

April 29, 2024 by Teigan Kelly No Comments | Category Procurement news, Scottish Procurement, SMEs, Third sector

We have published the Scottish Government ‘SME and Third Sector Procurement Action Plan’. This strengthens and reiterates our commitment to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and third sector organisations as well as setting out how we continue collaborating with industry and the wider public sector in Scotland.

SMEs and third sector organisations are crucial to the economic, social and environmental health of Scotland through supporting local areas, creating jobs and building strong communities. This action plan sets out the steps we will take to support and improve opportunities for SMEs and third sector organisations within the procurement process.

The action plan was announced in the New Deal for Business Implementation Plan in October 2023 and since then we have been collaborating and engaging with internal and external stakeholders to understand how we can leverage the full power of procurement to support SMEs and third sector organisations in the procurement process.

Stacey Dingwall, Head of Policy and External Affairs (Scotland) from Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) tells us: “We welcome the Scottish Government’s ongoing commitment to increasing procurement spend with small and micro businesses in particular, which is a key priority for us and our members. Also welcome is the continued focus on reducing late payment within the supply chain, and doing all we can to ensure small businesses are paid on time.”

We are committed to improving SME and third sector participation in the procurement process and will continue to look at what more we can do to maximise the impact of public procurement in Scotland.

You can find out more about how we plan to engage with industry, reduce barriers, promote innovation and enable participation in public procurement in our SME and Third Sector Procurement Action Plan.

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

Please email enquiries to scottishprocurement@gov.scot

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Tags: procurement, SMEs, third sector

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