Public Procurement and Property

Updated guidance to support the use of Community Benefits in Procurement

June 22, 2026 by Scottish Procurement No Comments | Category Procurement news, Scottish Procurement

We are pleased to announce updated Community Benefits in Procurement Guidance is now on the Sustainable Procurement Tools.

Delivering social impact through procurement

Public procurement in Scotland plays a crucial role in improving economic, social, and environmental wellbeing by creating jobs, developing skills, and supporting communities across Scotland.

This guidance has been designed to support public bodies to maximise the social impact of procurement by promoting a proportionate, consistent, and impactful approach when embedding community benefits within public contracts. It highlights how procurement can be used as a practical tool to deliver wider outcomes for people and communities:

• creating jobs, apprenticeships, and work placements
• supporting skills development, including green skills
• improving access to opportunities for individuals facing barriers to employment
• contributing to reducing inequalities and promoting Fair Work practices

What the guidance includes

We have streamlined the content and clarified key messages to support consistent application. The updated guidance includes:

• clear guidance aligned to the Procurement Journey
• an improved, easy-to-navigate structure
• new flowcharts to support decision-making
• example wording and key performance indicators for procurement documents
• a downloadable MS Word version

The guidance underpins our long-standing Community Benefits in Procurement policy and strengthens several important areas:

• clearer links between Community Wealth Building, Equality and Fair Work First
• reinforces that Community Benefits must relate to the subject matter of the contract
• clarifies that, in-line with the sustainable procurement duty, Community Benefits can be used in lower value regulated procurements, where it is relevant and proportionate to include them

Ongoing support

The Sustainable Procurement Tools platform continues to evolve, with regular updates and new resources being added. We welcome feedback from users to ensure the tools remain practical, relevant, and impactful. Queries or feedback can be emailed to: scottishprocurement@gov.scot

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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