Annual report on procurement activity in Scotland: 2019

2. Highlights

Infographic text version:

Good for the economy

• Public procurement spend generates around £10 billion of economic activity for Scotland, contributing £6 billion to Scottish Gross Domestic Product (GDP), supporting around 100,000 full time equivalent jobs.
• Over 20,700 businesses in Scotland, approximately 19,500 (94%) of which were SMEs, directly benefitted from 2016-17 spend in Scotland, with many more businesses indirectly benefiting within our supply chains.

Good for businesses and their employees

• There were 15,400 new public sector contract opportunities advertised in 2017-18.
• 87% of suppliers awarded onto collaborative agreements for the Scottish public sector and local government sector will pay the real Living Wage (78% of these suppliers are SMEs).
• Individual annual procurement reports show that over 5,700 regulated contracts were awarded with a total estimated value of over £11 billion.
• Three out of four suppliers awarded contracts in Scotland in 2017-18 were SMEs.
• 60 pence of every pound spent with a Scottish supplier in 2017-18 went to an SME.

Good for places and communities

• More than £11 billion worth of spend on goods, services and works supporting the delivery of public services that touch on many aspects of everyday life and benefit communities across Scotland.
• A ten-fold increase in the number of contract notices with community benefit requirements between 2015-16 and 2017-18.