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Ministerial Foreword
Public procurement in Scotland plays a key role in ensuring that Scottish citizens are provided with the wide range of goods, works and services that support public service delivery. From street lighting and school meals, to MRI scanners and social care, the people of Scotland rely on public bodies spending their budgets wisely and rightly expect that public contracts should deliver the best possible value for money while supporting high quality public services with due consideration to the impact on the local and global environment.
As you know, over the course of this spending review period there will be increasing pressures on public funding. It is therefore essential that we all make the best possible use of existing resources. If we are to meet the challenges that this spending review presents, while at the same time meeting the public's expectations in relation to value for money and quality, managers and procurement staff at every level in the public sector need to be able to measure and monitor their and their organisation's performance. Effective performance measurement has a key role to play in supporting our aim of building a wealthier and fairer Scotland.
As I made clear at the National Procurement Conference in October last year, my Cabinet colleagues and I expect every part of the public sector to actively participate in the drive for improved public procurement. There is simply no excuse for needless duplication of effort, disconnected and inefficient contract arrangements, or a lack of engagement with the public procurement reform programme. This document sets out the core best practice indicators that all public bodies should be looking to assess their procurement performance against. They have been developed by a group with representation from each key part of the public sector and, as Chair of the Public Procurement Reform Board, I am grateful to those who gave their time to support this work.
This is the first ever set of national best practice indicators for procurement in Scotland. Their development and adoption represents a significant further step towards implementation of John McClelland's recommendations on public procurement and towards delivering procurement reform. My colleagues on the Public Procurement Reform Board and I expect all organisations to measure and monitor their approach to procurement activity and these indicators are a vital tool for managers which I expect will be adopted as quickly and widely as possible.
We must take this unique opportunity to work together to take us closer to the vision of an open, joined up and professional public procurement sector that will help deliver high quality public services. That is what the people of Scotland deserve.
JOHN SWINNEY, MSP
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth
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