Public Procurement and Property

Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland – One year on

May 9, 2024 by Teigan Kelly No Comments | Category Scottish Procurement, SMEs, Sustainability

We have reached one year since the launch of the Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland (PPSfS). The strategy provides a clear vision and focused direction, supporting the whole Scottish public procurement community to align, to collaborate and to deliver positive outcomes with real impacts for the people of Scotland.

Public Bodies have already made significant strides in embedding the strategy in their own governance arrangements. A survey was issued to Heads of Procurement to understand the impact of the strategy one year on. Out of the responses received 100% of organisations have already, or are about to, align their Corporate Procurement Strategies to the PPSfS.

A year on there are some fantastic examples on how the strategy is being embedded and used to drive real outcomes right across the public sector in Scotland.

Within Scottish Government we have aligned our refreshed Procurement Strategy
fully to the PPSfS. We also recently published the SME and Third Sector Procurement Action Plan. This action plan will support the implementation of this strategy as part of its ‘Good for Businesses and their Employees’ objective. The plan will aim to consider how procurements are conducted and contracts are developed to reduce barriers and enable participation for SMEs and third sector organisations.

Caroline McDonald from Fife Council said “A refresh of our Procurement Strategy is due this coming year, and the PPSfS will be part of the ‘golden thread’ to determine our strategic drivers and ongoing activity to support that plan.”

Fife Council have also updated their Scheme of Tender Procedures which are now directly aligned to the PPSfS, and in particular SMEs, Third Sector and Supported Businesses with content included around support for these areas with additional focus on local spend.

Glasgow City Council utilised the PPSfS when developing the council’s Sustainable Procurement Strategy 2023-2027 to ensure this would support the delivery of the national objectives of the PPSfS, with the exception of its climate change net zero target of 2045. The council’s new strategy continues to support the objectives of the PPSfS and includes an objective to support the councils net zero by 2030, ecological and adaptation ambitions.

Scotland Excel have used the ‘Good for Society’ and ‘Good for Places and Communities’ objectives to ensure community benefits and fair work practices continue to be embedded in their tenders. An example of this can be found within their new build residential housing framework which supports Passivhaus specifications, local sub-contracting, and third sector supply opportunities.

The Scottish Prison Service has published a 5-year Procurement Strategy, designed to align with both the PPSfS launch and timeline and is also aligned with their own Corporate Strategy.

NHS National Services Scotland (NHS NSS) has reviewed the PPSfS and taken initiative as one of the Procurement Centres of Expertise to commence co-developing an NHS Procurement Strategy with Health Boards. This will be a first generation document, aimed to position a NHS Procurement Strategy between the PPSfS (with its 4 outcomes) and Health Board’s individual requirements to publish Corporate Procurement Strategies.

The examples show that continuing to collaboratively and collectively align to the strategy will take us forward in achieving a sustainable future for public procurement.

As the strategy continues to embed and we start to consider ways to measure its impact, where possible will use information and data that is already collated. The annual report on procurement activity in Scotland will be key to measuring and monitoring progress towards the Strategic Vision.

Subscribe to our blog to continue to hear updates on the Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland and please continue to share examples of how it’s being implemented.

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: Scottish Procurement, SMEs, Sustainability

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