Procurement - grant fund manager - dynamic purchasing system (DPS): buyer guide

DPS overview

Commercial Value for Money (CVfM) has established a DPS for Grant Fund Managers. The DPS will run from 11 January 2024 for a period of 3 years to 8 January 2027. Call-off contracts awarded via the DPS will have no constraints on their duration, meaning there will be no minimum/maximum call-off period and call off end dates can exceed that of the DPS.

A DPS is an electronic system of pre-qualified suppliers, for commonly used purchases which are generally available on the market, from which Scottish public sector bodies can invite tenders. As a procurement process, it has some aspects that are similar to a framework agreement, however, it is an electronic process and new suppliers can apply to join at any time during the period of the DPS. Further information can be found at the DPS  - Procurement Journey

How the DPS operates

A DPS is a two-stage process:

Stage 1 - suppliers can apply to join the dps  by completing the single procurement document (spd) via the public contracts scotland tender portal (pcs-t). suppliers are required to complete the spd and meet the minimum selection criteria stated.

Note: stage 1 has already been undertaken by cvfm whilst establishing the dps. however, new suppliers can still apply to join at any time during its term and cvfm will continue to process these applications.

Stage 2 - buyers will issue an invitation to tender (itt) (also referred to as a call off) for their requirement. all suppliers that have been successful in gaining entry to the dps must be invited to tender and given the opportunity to bid for call-off contracts.