November
- Remedies Directive Training : The Scottish Procurement Directorate (SPD) is providing a series of half-day training events on the impact of the Remedies Directive which comes into force in December 2009. more
GO Award Winners : Procurement Scotland Wins the "GO / John F McClelland Collaborative Procurement Award"at the Government Opportunities (GO) Scottish Excellence in Public Procurement Awards 2009
- John McClelland CBE (Author of the 'Review of Public Procurement in Scotland') stated that:
"the award recognises the power of collaboration, its ability to deliver more than could be achieved by organisations working on their own"
- Graham Steed (Managing Director of GO Magazine) said:
"The winning entry needed to demonstrate it was leading by example, and setting the benchmark for others to aspire to - and not just in Scotland."
- Ian Howie (Head of Procurement Scotland) said:
"As a relatively new organisation, this Award reflects an enormous amount of hard work and commitment by my team in Procurement Scotland, and I am delighted for them. But as a Collaborative Award it also reflects significant support from elsewhere in the procurement world. So huge thanks to our colleagues in all the sectoral centres of expertise, to the increasing number of public bodies very actively supporting our strategies and accessing our contracts, to all our colleagues in SPD and last, but not least, to all our suppliers."
The Award ceremony was held on Wed 28th October, Crown Plaza Hotel, Glasgow; Picture courtesy of GO magazine.
October
- A consultation exercise will be undertaken by the Scottish Procurement Directorate to inform the future vision for technology to support advanced procurement reform. It is expected that this will take approximately 3 to 4 months to complete and will commence during October 2009. Find out more...
- Future Planning for the future of the eProcurement Scotland (ePS) service has started and will take a two phased approach. Find out more...
September
National Public Procurement Conference and Procurex: The agenda for this year's National Public Procurement Conference has just been finalised. The event which takes place on 28 October at the SECC in Glasgow will feature a range of speakers and breakout sessions, including: John Swinney MSP, Alastair Merrill, the Director of Scottish Procurement Directorate, Colin Maclean from Scottish Futures Trust, Councillor Allison Hay, and many more. The Procurex Exhibition will take place alongside the conference, on 28 and 29 October. more
- 'The Procurement Training and Development Calendar' : The People & Skills Workstream in conjunction with the Centres of Expertise launch the Procurement Training and Development Calendar. This provides details of training and development events for procurement staff in the Scottish public sector. It also identifies which sectors the events are open to, who to contact for further information, and to book places.
August
- The Remedies Directive comes into force in December 2009. This is an important new piece of legislation more...
- Survey results: The results of a survey designed to find out more about the views, attitudes and experiences of commissioning and procurement staff in Scotland's local authorities, in relation to Scotland's enterprising third sector, has just been published. More...
- New Director for Scottish Procurement Directorate : Alastair Merrill has been appointed as the Director of Scottish Procurement Directorate. Alastair said, "I am thrilled to be joining the Procurement Directorate at this time. In the current economic climate, the successful delivery of the Procurement Reform Programme is even more important than ever to achieving the Government's Purpose. A huge amount has been achieved in recent years to transform the procurement landscape, and I am looking forward to the challenges ahead as we take the Programme into its next phase. Nick Bowd (CBE), who has done such a terrific job in leading work on public sector procurement since 1999, is moving into an adviser role so that we do not lose his vision and experience."
July
- Published today isAudit Scotland'shigh-level report:Improving public sector purchasing. This report looks at the progress made by the Public Procurement Reform Programme (PPRP) in taking forward the recommendations of the McClelland report published in 2006.
June
May
- Almost £2.5 billion of public sector business is now conducted online: eProcurement Scotland (ePS) handled nearly £2.5 billion worth of transactions last year, a rise of 45 per cent on 2007. Public sector procurement in Scotland is worth around £8 billion a year. more
- New National Agreement - Microsoft Software
A new Microsoft Agreement for the public sector, which will replace the Memorandum of Understanding, has been under negotiation between Buying Solutions (supported by Procurement Scotland) and Microsoft over the last few months. The new agreement has now been finalised and was signed on Tuesday 5th May. Procurement Scotland will be hosting a number of open days to provide organisations with the opportunity to hear about the new agreement, ask any questions and review the new pricing and licence models. To read more, please visit the IT Software Webpage.
April
- Scottish Parliament joined ePS in April 2009 at very little cost to the organisation. This was a ground breaking move forward for ePS to bring on board smaller organisations. Find out more...
- Promoting the Involvement of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Public Contracts - Six Simple Steps' : Finance Secretary John Swinney has asked public bodies to take six simple steps to give small and medium sized enterprises, social enterprises and third sector bodies better access to public contracts. Full details of the six simple steps can be found on our SME page. A Scottish Procurement Policy Note on 'Promoting the Involvement of Small and Medium Sized Enterprises in Public Contracts - Six Simple Steps' is also available.
- New National Agreement - Oracle Software : On 9 April 2009 Procurement Scotland entered a new agreement with Oracle UK Ltd. The agreement is for new licences and support and also includes existing support - it will be known as the Oracle Unlimited Licence Agreement (ULA). To read more, please visit the IT Software Webpage.
- New National Agreement - Electricity : Procurement Scotland can announce that a national agreement for the supply of electricity has been awarded to Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Energy. The contract will commence on the 1 October 2009 until 30 September 2012 with the option to extend for a further year. The contract is available to nearly all Scottish Public Bodies. Organisations who have signed an Agency Agreement with Procurement Scotland will migrate to the contract throughout this period as their current supply arrangements end. Over 95% of the Scottish Public Sector volume is committed to this national agreement. To read more, please visit the Utilities web page.
March
- Nurturing Talent to Deliver Procurement Reform : The 'Nurturing Talent to Deliver Procurement Reform' event is taking place on Tuesday 16 June at Hampden Park, Glasgow. You will hear from colleagues about the practical use of tools and techniques that are driving Procurement Reform. You will also have the opportunity to hear how C.I.P.S., the sectoral Centres of Expertise, the Scottish Procurement Directorate and others across the public sector are working collaboratively to nurture the talent that already exists within the profession and promote procurement as a career of choice.
January
- Now available isThe Scottish Procurement Policy HandbookandPolicy Note (SPPN 17 2008). The Handbook sets out the fundamental rules, behaviours and standards applicable to public procurement activity in Scotland and is aimed at all public sector procurement organisations across Scotland and promotes the use of open and transparent procedures. more