Scottish Government procurement: annual report 2020 to 2021

2. Reporting period highlights

Some of our significant achievements in the period April 2020 to March 2021 are:

Power of Procurement

£1bn : Public sector bodies across Scotland spent just over £1 billion on goods and services through the national contracts and frameworks we awarded.

£196m : Our contracts and frameworks (across all types of contracting activity) saved the public sector over £196 million, an increase of 22.5% on the previous year.

We published our Public Procurement Priorities, which demonstrate our commitment to using the power of procurement to deliver and influence outcomes that are good for the people of Scotland.

Open and connected

1,500 : We broadened our engagement with our supply base and the SME community through a comprehensive survey of suppliers with over 1,500 responses, a series of SME roundtables to discuss the most important issues and through engagement with the Procurement Supply Group.

We worked closely with the Public Procurement Group and through the Heads of Procurement to continue to build the procurement community in Scotland and to discuss the future of public sector procurement in Scotland.

15,656: Across Scotland, over 450 organisations used Public Contracts Scotland to advertise 11,025 contract opportunities resulting in 15,656 suppliers winning contracts.

We delivered our final Open Government commitment (under the SG Open Government National Action Plan 2018-2020) on the publication of procurement-related spend data.

5 : An additional 5 Scottish public bodies joined our national eInvoicing service, bringing the total to 32.

Good for businesses and their employees

£329m : Of the £329* million that we spent through contracts that are specifically for the use of Scottish Government bodies, around £106 million or 32% went directly to SMEs.

£133m : Almost £133m of the £329 million was spent here in Scotland and £76 million of that went to Scottish SMEs. 59% of the Scottish spend through our contracts is with SMEs (where size and postcode is known).

£75m : Many more SMEs also won work in our supply chains as subcontractors. These SME subcontractors shared at least £75 million of work, with Scottish SMEs receiving at least £23 million of that.

118 : We awarded 118 regulated contracts and frameworks to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), an increase from 96 in the previous year.

99% : We paid 99% of valid invoices within thirty days and 97% within ten days, getting cash into the economy quickly and supporting the economic recovery.

92% : 92% of our suppliers commit to paying the real Living Wage.

Good for society

£6.8m : Spend by Scottish public sector bodies through our supported business framework increased to just over £6.8 million.

140 : As well as supporting existing jobs, our contracts enabled the creation of 146 brand-new new jobs, 27 apprenticeships, 31 work placements and 453 qualifications.

Good for places and communities

21 : We awarded 21 new contracts with community benefits incorporated. This brings the total number of live contracts with community benefits to 62.