June
Office Supplies - National Contract(s)
The Tender was issued early in April 2008 with a national agreement being in place by September 08. Procurement Scotland are currently working with stakeholders across Scotland to determine Evaluation Criteria and to obtain the Intention to Participate from public sector organisations. Review the Corporate Services section to find out more...
IT Software - Request for Supplier Information
As part of the strategy development process for the IT Software Portfolio, Procurement Scotland is seeking views and information from the market place regarding the requirements set out in a Request for Supplier Information. To participate in this process please review the IT Software section to find out more...
Official Launch of Procurement Scotland
Procurement Scotland was formally launched on Thursday 6 March 2008 by John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth. The NPCoE (National Procurement Centre of Expertise) was the working title that was being used during the organisations establishment and early work. Please read the Post Launch Newsletter (March 2008).
February
Procurement Scotland saves taxpayers over one million pounds
On 14th December 2007, Procurement Scotland held its first on-line e-auction for IT Hardware. Along with significant savings of up to 55% on previous prices, uplifts in the specification of hardware and improved energy efficiency will also bring additional business benefits to public sector buying organisations. This project is the first demonstration of the benefits to be gained from collaboration at a Category A national level. Please review the IT Hardware section to find out more
EU Public Procurement Directive Training
Procurement Scotland sponsored a successful, fully attended & free training event on " EU Public Procurement Directives in Edinburgh in May 2008.
Category A National Strategies & Contracts
Please review the ' What is category A?' section to learn how categories of commodities are being identified to be sourced at a national level. Work is ongoing across several areas, such as:
- Promotion of the excellent deals on Desktop PCs & Laptops derived from the e-Auction held in Dec 2007.
- Office Supplies Contract Award scheduled for September 2008
- Endorsement from the First Minister for collaborative procurement proposals on Electricity, with a national approach and contractual arrangements in place by Q4 2008
Review the 'National Contracts' section to find out more.
December
NPCoE's First National Contract for IT Hardware
On 14 December 2007, the National Procurement Centre of Expertise (NPCoE) held its first e-auction for IT Hardware. This project was the first demonstration of the benefits to be gained from collaboration at a Category A (National) level.
The public sector in Scotland currently spends approximately £100 million with IT Hardware suppliers per year, with significant levels of expenditure in all public sectors. To harness the combined purchasing power of the Scottish public sector, an e-auction was held for PCs, laptops and monitors, using the Catalist Framework of OGCbuying.solutions.
Organisations from central government, local authority and higher and further education sectors participated in the auction. It proved attractive to suppliers as it offered the opportunity to win cross-sector business in Scotland for committed volumes of IT hardware equipment. It also offered the potential of substantial future volumes from other public sector organisations that can purchase off the contract over the next 12 months.
The results of the auction were very successful. Savings averaged 26% against an earlier auction held in February 2007, representing approx £748K savings against committed volume. Uplifts in the specification of hardware and improved energy efficiency will also bring additional business benefits to participating organisations. In addition, experience from previous auctions suggests that other organisations are likely to come on board later, with the result that projected savings will rise to over £2.2 million..
Further information about the e-auction and the national contracts for IT hardware can be obtained from Gordon Neill (Portfolio Manager for IT Hardware) - Gordon.neill@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.
November
Moving Forward
This is an exciting time for NPCoE and the wider Scottish Public procurement community.
If you have any queries about the work of NPCoE please do not hesitate to 'Contact Us'.
October
Scottish Public Procurement Conference 2007 (Oct 31st, Glasgow, SECC)
Representatives of NPCoE attended this very successful conference and managed a well received publicity stand. In the keynote speech, John Swinney (Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth) sent out a strong message that " individuals or organisations that prefer not to collaborate on contracts, will be expected to be able to justify their position on objective business grounds. The burden of proof will rest with them. If they cannot justify their actions they will be held to account."
Please review full details of the conference and Mr Swinneys speech