Public sector procurement support
We provide a range of tools and guidance to help public bodies carry out transactions efficiently, and to improve and enhance their procurement capability.
Procurement journey
The Procurement Journey website is the main source of procurement best practice guidance for the Scottish public sector.
eCommerce solutions
We offer a range of services and solutions through our eCommerce shared service, which enable public sector organisations and their suppliers to automate and streamline their business processes. These include the following:
Pre-contract award |
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| Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) | National advertising portal for all public sector contracts. |
| PCS-Tender |
A secure and efficient means for public sector buyers and suppliers to manage tender exercises online. |
| Scottish Procurement Information Hub | Analytical tool that enables public bodies to see their spend, identify key suppliers, and potential collaborative oportunities. |
Post-contract award |
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| Professional Electronic Commerce Online System (PECOS) | Online purchase to pay (P2P) system that provides the ability to automate P2P processes from purchase order through to payment of invoices. |
| PECOS Gateway | Enables customers to use PECOS P2P functionality to hold, manage and access content. |
| Pecos content manager (PCM) | Electronic catalogue management solution. |
| eInvoicing | Allows invoices to be issued, received and reconciled electronically through a secure channel. |
| Electronic purchasing (ePC) cards | Used to pay for low value goods and services outwith existing contracts or frameworks. |
| Purchase to pay (P2P) review service | Free, independent service to help public bodies identify improvements and opportunities. |
| Procurement benefits reporting guidance | Guidance to help procurement teams identify savings and benefits from procurement activity, in a consistent way. |
Guidance on procurement policy and legislation
We have produced a range of advice and guidance for public bodies including:
- statutory guidance covering procurement strategies and annual reports, the sustainable procurement duty, community benefit, tenders and award of contracts
- updated procurement threshold values as well as the indicative threshold values including the 20% VAT rate
- sustainable procurement tools and guidance to help embed sustainability into procurement processes
We also publish procurement policy notes (SPPNs) and construction procurement notes which provide advice on current policy issues.
Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland
The Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland provides a high-level vision and roadmap, covering the next 5 years, which all public sector bodies can align their organisational strategies to.
Led by a cross sectorial working group, this strategy has been developed by our procurement community, for our procurement community, aiming to be both practical and ambitious.
It acknowledges the challenging economic environment in which public bodies find themselves operating. It is designed to be flexible and to allow organisations to make use of it irrespective of their size or position.
It strives to be efficient and effective, while considering the reach and ability of Procurement to deliver successful outcomes.
This strategy will ensure we put in place initiatives, practices and policies to promote a resilient profession capable of generating innovative approaches to whatever circumstance comes Scotland’s way.
Specialist support
Central Government Procurement Shared Services (CGPSS) provides specialist procurement support for government agencies, non-departmental public bodies and non-ministerial departments.
See: guide to using procurement shared services
People and skills development
We are working in partnership with the public and private sector to promote procurement as a career of choice, and support new entrants into procurement.
The procurement competency and development frameworks have been developed to help public sector procurement staff assess their skills, and identify their training and development needs.
Procurement People of Tomorrow programme (PPoT)
The Procurement People of Tomorrow (PPoT) programme aims to address the skills gap in procurement and highlights the challenges in attracting, recruiting and retaining talent.
Procurement People of Today and Leaders of Tomorrow programme
The Procurement People of Today and Leaders of Tomorrow programme aims to improve procurement and commercial skills in Scotland's public sector.
To achieve this, work is underway to develop a cross-sector national learning and skills strategy to address learning priorities and support best practice.
By working with public sector stakeholders such as Scotland Excel, universities and colleges, Skills Development Scotland and NHS National Procurement, we can support a joined-up approach to:
- developing procurement professionals and enabling our procurement leaders of tomorrow
- nurturing existing and future talent through identified career paths
- continuous professional development
Archive
You can view procurement content prior to 2018 on the gov.scot archive.
Contact
Email: scottishprocurement@gov.scot