The Scottish Government

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CHAPTER 7 - PROCUREMENT

Background

7.1 The procurement activities of public bodies are highly regulated ( EU Treaty, specific EU Directives on procurement and jurisprudence from the European Court of Justice and the national courts) which means that such bodies are obliged to ensure that they act in a transparent and proportionate manner ensuring equal treatment and non discrimination in all their activities. In essence, this means that good procurement practice is fundamentally about treating potential suppliers equally and awarding contracts on the basis of merit following fair and open competition wherever possible. In this respect, good procurement practice is therefore consistent with equality policies.

7.2 We are currently working on a guidance document for the public procurement community in Scotland highlighting the extent to which social issues including gender equality can be incorporated into procurement processes

7.3 The Executive accepts that as a major procurer of goods and services it has to ensure that those who are contracted by us do not compromise our duty to promote equality between women and men when carrying out services to the public on our behalf.

7.4 The Executive will amend its standard set of terms and conditions to include a clause stating that contractors shall not unlawfully discriminate with regard to disability, age, gender, sexual orientation, race or religion.

7.5 We require potential contractors for significant contracts to disclose any adverse judgements/rulings and have published guidance for suppliers on our procurement website that warns that failure to comply with legislation may result in them being excluded from bidding.

Procurement Action Plan

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