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Introduction and Background to the Public Procurement Reform Programme

Introduction

The Public Procurement Reform Programme was initiated in response to a review of public procurement in Scotland carried out by John F McClelland CBE.

The Programme aims to support the implementation of new structures, capability and processes delivering continuous improvement in procurement across the Scottish Public Sector and supporting delivery of Value for Money improvements and increased efficiency.

Background

In November 2004, the Scottish Government published a report entitled 'Building a Better Scotland, Efficient Government - Securing Efficiency, Effectiveness and Productivity' (B37580 11/04). Within the report, there was a commitment to conduct a review of public procurement in Scotland in 2005, led by a senior figure from the private sector.

Following publication of that report, the then Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform announced in 2005 that John F McClelland CBE would conduct a detailed review of public sector procurement in Scotland. The review was asked to consider:

• Current structure and organisation of procurement activity.
• Current skills and capability deployed on procurement.
• Current practices and procedures.
• Performance indicators and targets applied to procurement activity.
• Ways to achieve efficiency improvements through greater collaboration.
• Whether e-procurement techniques such as e-procurement Scotland and purchasing cards are being fully and efficiently utilised.
• Whether there is scope for the Gateway process to be further deployed across the public sector, to ensure that proper project management arrangements are in place for major procurement decisions.
• What lessons can be drawn from experience elsewhere.

'The Review of Public Procurement in Scotland - Report and Recommendations' (B45550 03/06) was published on Wednesday 15 March 2006.

"If we can achieve the programme's goal of structured collaboration and joint working across, and within, sectors, I firmly believe we will deliver real and lasting improvements in public services."

Nick Bowd, Director of Procurement,
Scottish Procurement Directorate

The objectives of the programme are to:

• support implementation of the recommendations in the McClelland Report;
• support public bodies in improving their procurement capabilities in order to support delivery of better public services;
• increase the cost-effectiveness of procurement, thereby releasing cash for use in other priority areas;
• establish and embed appropriate procurement policy and best practice in order to ensure fair and efficient procurement practices and reduce commercial risk;
• facilitate cross-sector collaboration to avoid duplication of effort, maximise potential gains from collaboration, enable the sharing of experience and information and to ensure that common suppliers and markets are managed effectively.

Public Procurement Reform Programme

The Programme is designed to support improvements in structures, capability and processes to provide continuous improvement in procurement across the Scottish Public Sector in order to deliver Value For Money improvements and support increased efficiency.

The Public Procurement Reform Programme consists of several initiatives and workstreams which are relevant to almost every public sector organisation.

The programme includes changes to policy; delivery of cross sectoral collaboration and support structures including the establishment of procurement Centres of Expertise (CoEs), which will lead the procurement of key commodities on a shared / collaborative basis for the organisations that they represent; improving procurement management information; enhancing skills and practices; improving procurement efficiency (including through e-Procurement); and improving supplier relations.

"I am very pleased with the significant progress that has been made in public sector procurement in Scotland following publication of my report in 2006. While there have been improvements across a wide range of activities the fact alone that the five recommended Centres of Expertise had all been established by early this year is symbolic of the extent of the progress made. These achievements provide a strong foundation on which to continue to build the programme of reform I recommended."

John F. McClelland CBE

Progress to date

Work is well underway to fully develop operations at the already established Centres of Expertise in key sectors, including national commodity categories, central government, local government and universities and colleges. The Centres of Expertise will underpin cross-sector collaboration at a national level, helping to ensure consistency of approach, the sharing of best practice and the avoidance of duplicated effort.

The eProcurement Scotland programme is a key component of the Public Procurement Reform agenda and is an early example of a successful shared service. Launched in 2002, ePS is a fully hosted and managed 24/7 e-procurement service which supports the purchase-to-pay cycle, providing a range of services including e-sourcing (electronic tendering and auctions) and transactional purchase-to-pay solutions.

As well as the development of Procurement Centres of Expertise and acceleration of the ePS programme, other key actions under way to support delivery include:

• MI Tool - the spend analysis tool (Spikes Cavell) provides management information to key stakeholder groups, which will enable the Public Sector in Scotland to understand where collaborative buying opportunities exist, in order that efficiency savings can be made.
• People and Skills - aims to 'nurture the talent' which already exists within Procurement across the Scottish Public Sector, and facilitate and promote a career development path for procurement professionals.
• 'Suppliers Charter' - the Charter, issued to the wider public sector, sets out standards which public sector bodies are expected to meet in their dealings with suppliers.
• Scottish contract advertising portal - work is progressing to establish a portal, which will provide suppliers with a single point of access to Scottish contract notices and other information relevant to public procurement in Scotland.
• A 'Single Point of Enquiry' - agreement has been reached on the establishment of an enquiry point for businesses wishing to raise concerns about procurement practices.
• Standardised policy and practice guidelines.

The Public Procurement Reform Programme represents a significant ongoing change programme that reaches almost every public sector organisation in Scotland. It is in itself collaborative in approach and, with the support of partners and stakeholders, continued progress can be made in the way the public sector in Scotland approaches procurement.

Contact Information

For general information on the Public Procurement Reform Programme please contact:

Phone: 0141 242 5858
E-mail: scottishprocurementdirectorate@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Phone: 0141 242 5947
E-mail: publicprocurementreformsecretariat@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

For information on the Procurement Centres of Expertise please contact:

Phone: 0131 244 0865
E-mail: NPCoE-Enquiries@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Phone: 0131 244 7166
E-mail: cgcope@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Phone: 0141 842 6653
E-mail: contactus@scotland-excel.org.uk

Phone: 0131 455 3500
E-mail: enquiries@apuc-scot.ac.uk

Phone: 0131 275 7780
E-mail: nationalprocurement@shs.csa.scot.nhs.uk

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