{"id":2569,"date":"2021-06-10T10:59:55","date_gmt":"2021-06-10T09:59:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/public-procurement\/?p=2569"},"modified":"2021-08-23T13:11:55","modified_gmt":"2021-08-23T12:11:55","slug":"speaking-up-for-suppliers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.gov.scot\/public-procurement\/2021\/06\/10\/speaking-up-for-suppliers\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaking up for suppliers…"},"content":{"rendered":"

For our next guest blog in our series covering the Procurement Supply Group we have Susan Love, Head of External Affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses Scotland<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Has the Covid crisis made us care more about how government buys the goods and services it needs? Whether the PPE used by the NHS, or the food in our school meals, it seems there is renewed interest in shorter, sustainable supply chains. This, in turn, could enable more Scottish businesses and organisations to win contracts, bringing increased spending power and jobs to local communities.<\/p>\n

Sounds simple enough? Not quite. The tangle of red tape facing small suppliers who want to sell to our colleges, councils and hospitals might sound clich\u00e9d but is, nevertheless, well documented. To help address this, representatives of business, industry and third sector organisations in Scotland meet several times a year as the Procurement Supply Group (PSG) to share feedback with the Scottish Government.<\/p>\n

The core role of PSG is to inform and influence Scottish public procurement policy and practice as these affect suppliers \u2013 and this includes any issues facing small businesses. At its most recent meeting, the PSG went through the findings of the government\u2019s own large-scale survey of suppliers<\/a>. This includes responses from over 1500 suppliers, with the vast majority of responses coming from SMEs. This survey is a treasure trove of data and provides crucial feedback from suppliers, helping us to see where there have been improvements and where challenges remain.<\/p>\n

While the PSG regularly discusses the government\u2019s direction of travel on procurement policy, it\u2019s the practical experience of small businesses and voluntary sector organisations bidding for work that is often the centre of discussion, not least the challenges of translating government policy and legislation to a consistently good experience for SMEs, regardless of which part of the public sector they\u2019re selling to. So while the survey did give some signs that suppliers can see improvements in the bidding process, it\u2019s perhaps unsurprising that it also highlighted frustrations:<\/p>\n