Public procurement - views and experiences: research

Appendix 2 Interview questions

Interview Guide – New Businesses

Background questions

1. In which year was your business founded?

2. Can you tell me a bit more about the work that your company undertakes?

3. 1a. Is there a particular sector that you work in?

4. 1b. In which geographical areas do you operate?

5. 1c. How large is your company? (number of employees, turnover or some other indicator)

6. Who are your clients?

7. Have you ever bid for public sector contracts as the lead contractor, or as part of a consortium?

If yes, continue with questions below. If no, move to questions in section 2 of this guide.

8. Can you tell me more about how frequently and which type of contracts you have bid for?

9. Which parts of the public sector do you usually work with (e.g. local government, health etc.)?

10. Why do you bid for Scottish public sector contracts?

Benefits of bidding

11. What are the benefits for your company of contracting with the public sector?

12. What are the benefits for the public sector in contracting with your company?

13. What are the benefits for the public sector in contracting with the private sector more widely? What do companies like yours have to offer?

Enablers and barriers to bidding

14. To what extent do you think you are well-placed to bid for – and deliver – Scottish public sector contracts?

15. Are there any particular types of contracts that your company does not bid for? If yes, why do you not bid for these contracts? (e.g. particular parts of the public sector e.g. health/local government)

16. What helps you to bid for and deliver contracts? (For example, giving suppliers enough time to bid, having clear and easy to access tender documents, making it easy to seek clarifications, providing support to develop your capacity or your staff’s skills).

17. Have any of the contracts you have delivered been tendered through a Quick Quote process? Were your experiences of the Quick Quote process different to your experiences of open tender processes? If yes, in what way?

18. What are the barriers to bidding for contracts? Is there anything that makes it difficult for your organisation to bid?

19. To what extent do you think that the Scottish public sector is willing and able to do business with companies like yours?

Delivering public contracts

20. What are your experiences of delivering public contracts? Have these been positive experiences?

21. Is there anything about delivering public contracts that would put you off bidding in future?

Take-up of advice and support

22. To what extent do you engage with the available mechanisms for training, support and advice around bidding for public contracts (e.g. Supplier Development Programme, Business Gateway)?

23. How useful are these?

24. (If they do not engage with the available support mechanisms) Why not? (prompts: not aware, don’t need any etc)

25. Are there any other types of advice or support that your company would find useful when it comes to bidding for public contracts? (Prompts: more targeted support)

26. Is there anything else that the public sector can do to enable more new businesses to bid for and deliver public contracts?

Section 2 – Non-bidders

1. Why do you not bid for public sector contracts currently?

2. Have you considered doing so and ruled this out for any reason?

3. Is there any appetite to do so in future?

4. What would make it more attractive to you to bid for public contracts? Are there any barriers that could be addressed?

5. Are there sufficient opportunities for organisations like yours to bid for public sector contracts?

6. If not, how could this be improved?

7. What would the benefits be for companies like yours of being able to bid for public contracts?

8. What would the benefits to the public sector be, of contracting with companies like yours?

9. To what extent has your company ever engaged with the available mechanisms for training, support and advice around bidding for public contracts (e.g. Supplier Development Programme, Business Gateway)? (Prompts: more targeted support)

10. If not at all, why not? Is there any other support or advice that would help you to bid?

11. Is there anything else that the public sector can do to enable more new businesses to bid for and deliver public contracts?

Interview Guide – Third Sector Organisations

Background questions

1. Can you tell me a bit more about your organisation and the range of services that your organisation delivers?

1a. Is your organisation a social enterprise/charity/voluntary group?

1b. Is there a particular sector that you work in?

1c. In which geographical areas do you operate?

1d. How large is your organisation (number of employees, turnover or some other indicator)?

2. Who are your service users?

3. Have you ever bid for public sector contracts as the lead contractor, or as part of a consortium?

If yes, continue with questions below. If no, move to questions in section 2 of this guide.

4. Can you tell me more about how frequently and which type of contracts you have bid for?

5. Which parts of the public sector do you usually work with (e.g. local government, health etc.)?

6. Why do you bid for Scottish public sector contracts?

Benefits of bidding

7. What are the benefits for your organisation of contracting with the public sector?

8. What are the benefits for the public sector in contracting with your organisation?

9. What are the benefits for the public sector in contracting with the Third Sector more widely? What do organisations like yours have to offer?

Enablers and barriers to bidding

10. To what extent do you think you are well-placed to bid for – and deliver – Scottish public sector contracts?

11. Are there any particular types of contracts that you do not bid for? If yes, why do you not bid for these contracts? (e.g. particular parts of the public sector e.g. health/local government)

12. What helps you to bid for and deliver contracts? (For example, giving suppliers enough time to bid, having clear and easy to access tender documents, making it easy to seek clarifications, providing support to develop your capacity or your staff’s skills)

13. Have any of these contracts been tendered through a Quick Quote process? Were your experiences of the Quick Quote process different to your experiences of open tender processes? If yes, in what way?

14. What are the barriers to bidding for contracts? Is there anything that makes it difficult for your organisation to bid?

15. To what extent do you think that the Scottish public sector is willing and able to do business with organisations like yours?

Delivering public contracts

16. What are your experiences of delivering public contracts? Have these been positive experiences?

17. Is there anything about delivering public contracts that would put you off bidding in future?

Take-up of advice and support

18. To what extent do you engage with the available mechanisms for training, support and advice around bidding for public contracts (e.g. Supplier Development Programme, Just Enterprise and Partnership for Procurement)?

19. How useful are these?

20. Are there any other types of advice or support that your organisation would find useful when it comes to bidding for public contracts (e.g. more targeted support)?

21. (If they do not engage with the available support mechanisms) Why not? (Prompts: not aware, don’t need any etc)

22. Is there anything else that the public sector can do to enable more third sector organisations to bid for and deliver public contracts?

Section 2 – Non-bidders

23. Why do you not bid for public sector contract currently?

24. Have you considered doing so and ruled this out for any reason?

25. Is there any appetite to do so in future?

26. What would make it more attractive to you to bid for public contracts? Are there any barriers that could be addressed?

27. Are there sufficient opportunities for organisations like yours to bid for public sector contracts?

28. If not, how could this be improved?

29. What would the benefits be for organisations like yours to be able to bid for public contracts?

30. What would the benefits to the public sector be, of contracting with organisations like yours?

31. To what extent has your organisation ever engaged with the available mechanisms for training, support and advice around bidding for public contracts? (E.g. Supplier Development Programme, Just Enterprise and Partnership for Procurement).

32. If not at all, why not? Is there any other support or advice that would help you to bid? (Prompts: more targeted support)

33. Is there anything else that the public sector can do to enable more third sector organisations to bid for and deliver public contracts?

Interview Guide – New Business Stakeholders

Introduction

Scottish Government has commissioned Blake Stevenson Ltd., an independent research company, to investigate the views and experiences of third sector organisations and new businesses, in relation to public procurement in Scotland.

Your views will inform future development of the public procurement system in Scotland, ensuring that it is as inclusive as possible and that organisations can better access, compete for and deliver public contracts.

How we will use the data you provide

This interview is confidential - nothing you say will be attributable in our final report.

In our report – which Scottish Government plans to publish – we will reflect key messages from all the interviews we conduct and the survey findings and we will not attribute any of the information or comments that you provide directly to you. In other words, your comments will be anonymous. We may quote from some interviews, but we will ensure that any quotes are also non-attributable.

Interview questions

1. How do you support/work with new businesses in relation to procurement?

2. To what extent do the companies that you support engage with the Scottish public procurement system currently?

3. How important are public contracts for the companies in your sector?

4. What works well in relation to public procurement in Scotland currently?

5. What are the specific factors and barriers that can make it challenging for new businesses to participate in public procurement? Please give examples if you can.

6. What needs to be done to address these barriers?

7. Are you able to give me any examples or experiences of interventions/support (from any organisation) that have worked well to enable new businesses to participate in public procurement?

8. Are you aware of any specific interventions/support programmes been put in place that target the new businesses that you support? If yes, what are these and how effective have these been?

9. There have been a range of changes to legislation, and policy and practice, in relation to public procurement in Scotland in recent years. Do you feel that it has become easier or more challenging over the past 5 years for new businesses to participate in public procurement? In what way?

10. In your view, to what extent is the Scottish public sector willing and able to do business with the companies that you support?

11. Are there any other types of advice or support that are needed to support new businesses to bid for public contracts (e.g. more targeted support)?

12. Is there any potential to open up Scottish public sector contracts to new markets within your sector? If so, to whom? And how can this be encouraged?

13. Is there anything else that the public sector or others can do to enable more new businesses to bid for and deliver public contracts? Who is best placed to help with this?

14. Do you have any final thoughts or comments in relation to new businesses and public procurement in Scotland?

Thank you for taking part in this interview.

Interview Guide – Third Sector Stakeholders

Introduction

Scottish Government has commissioned Blake Stevenson Ltd., an independent research company, to investigate the views and experiences of third sector organisations and new businesses, in relation to public procurement in Scotland.

Your views will inform future development of the public procurement system in Scotland, ensuring that it is as inclusive as possible and that organisations can better access, compete for and deliver public contracts.

How we will use the data you provide

This interview is confidential - nothing you say will be attributable in our final report.

In our report – which Scottish Government plans to publish – we will reflect key messages from all the interviews we conduct and the survey findings and we will not attribute any of the information or comments that you provide directly to you. In other words, your comments will be anonymous. We may quote from some interviews, but we will ensure that any quotes are also non-attributable.

Interview questions

1. How do you support/work with third sector organisations in relation to procurement?

2. To what extent do the organisations that you support engage with the Scottish public procurement system currently?

3. How important are public contracts for the organisations in your sector?

4. What works well in relation to public procurement in Scotland currently?

5. What are the specific factors and barriers that can make it challenging for third sector organisations to participate in public procurement? Please give examples if you can.

6. What needs to be done to address these barriers?

7. Are you able to give me any examples or experiences of interventions/support (from any organisation) that have worked well to enable Third Sector organisations to participate in public procurement?

8. Are you aware of any specific interventions/support programmes been put in place that target the Third Sector organisations that you support? If yes, what are these and how effective have these been?

9. There have been a range of changes to legislation, and policy and practice, in relation to public procurement in Scotland in recent years. Do you feel that it has become easier or more challenging over the past 5 years for the Third Sector to participate in public procurement? In what way?

10. In your view, to what extent is the Scottish public sector willing and able to do business with the organisations that you support?

11. Are there any other types of advice or support that are needed to support Third Sector organisations to bid for public contracts (e.g. more targeted support)?

12. Is there any potential to open up Scottish public sector contracts to new markets within your sector? If so, to whom? And how can this be encouraged?

13. Is there anything else that the public sector or others can do to enable more Third Sector organisations to bid for and deliver public contracts? Who is best placed to help with this?

14. Do you have any final thoughts or comments in relation to Third sector and public procurement in Scotland?

Thank you for taking part in this interview.