Public Procurement and Property

Scottish Procurement and Commercial Competency Framework

June 10, 2026 by Scottish Procurement No Comments | Category Procurement news, Scottish Procurement

The national standard for procurement professionals in Scotland, the Scottish Procurement and Commercial Competency Framework, has been updated and published. It is ready for you to measure your skills, plan your development and accelerate your career.

The framework is validated against current Scottish public procurement practice and the new CIPS Global Standard. Each competency has been reviewed and checked for understanding and consistency. There have been two competencies that have changed more fundamentally. Contract Management and Supplier Management have been merged into one Contract and Supplier Management competency. Spend Analysis, and Market and Supply Chain Analysis are now combined into Analysis and Use of Evidence. This new competence also broadens its scope to include other areas of analysis under one umbrella.

The competencies are mapped to the equivalent relevant professional bodies’ global standards and accreditations at each level. These are the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply; the Association for Project Management; and the Chartered Management Institute.

The associated National Procurement Development Framework tool, which is free and easy to use, draws the competencies from the Scottish Procurement and Commercial Competency Framework. The tool has been updated to match the newest version of the competency framework and identifies learning, capability support and case studies.

The tool can be used to self-assess skills, identify training and development needs, and to help you with career planning and personal development. It also can be used by organisations to evaluate their professional capability through reporting.

Background

The competency framework was first established in 2008 as part of the Procurement Reform programme and was subsequently refreshed in 2016 and 2019. The latest refresh was in 2025 and is the result of extensive engagement with colleagues across the public sector and reflects current best practice. The number of competencies has been streamlined from 37 to 35, and the Sustainable Procurement competency reflects how sustainability is now fully embedded in Scottish public procurement practice as evidenced in the independent review of Scotland’s journey of achieving sustainable procurement outcomes 2002-2022.

Please contact commercialcapability@gov.scot if you have any questions or would like a session run on how to use the tool for your organisation.

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: commercial competency, Contract management, frameworks, Supply Management

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