In November 2004, the Scottish Government published a report entitled 'Building a Better Scotland, Efficient Government - Securing Efficiency, Effectiveness and Productivity'. 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, it was 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 was published on Wednesday 15th March 2006.