Public procurement strategy: 2023 to 2028

Introduction

The Public Procurement Group (PPG) is excited to see the first Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland being published. This is a landmark publication and indicative of the group's ambition to embed collaboration and support Scotland as a world leader in delivering sustainable procurement outcomes.

The PPG is the leadership group for public procurement across Scotland, made up of the heads of Procurement Centres of Expertise, and senior Scottish Government procurement officials. Together with the Heads of Procurement across the Public Sector, who all work to set strategic direction and priorities for public procurement in Scotland.

There are four Procurement Centres of Expertise in Scotland, which between them, provide support and guidance to all public sector bodies. They are:

• Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges (APUC)
• Central Government Procurement
• NHS National Procurement
• Scotland Excel

The intention of this first Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland is to provide a high-level vision for Scottish Public Procurement covering the next 5 years, which all public sector bodies can align 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 environment of current times, while being flexible. Designed to allow organisations to engage 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 enable the profession to deliver innovative approaches to whatever circumstance comes our way.