Scottish Government procurement strategy: April 2022 to March 2024

1. Foreword from Nick Ford, Director, Procurement and Property - April 2023 update

As part of the Plan for the Future, the first ever Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland has been developed through cross-sectorial collaboration. The Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland provides a future high-level 5 year vision and roadmap for all Scottish public procurement bodies to align with.

This document, the Scottish Government Procurement Strategy (2022 - 2024), aligns with and supports the delivery of the Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland, demonstrating our leadership and commitment to this unified vision and ambition.

In time, we expect all public bodies to align their public procurement visions and ambitions against the Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland. By doing so, we can put public procurement at the heart of a sustainable economy to maximise value for the people of Scotland.

We, the Scottish Government, will use our spending power to deliver in a way that is good for the people of Scotland. Our aims are already aligned to the four outcomes for public procurement, which are reflected in the Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland. These are: good for businesses and their employees, good for society, good for places and communities, and open and connected.

As we look to the future and the economic and societal challenges we face, we must be bold, progressive and ambitious, leveraging the full Power of Procurement as we continue to deliver on our obligation to provide better impact and outcomes for the people of Scotland.

Striving to become a Net Zero Nation, it's also imperative that we become a Fairer Scotland, doing more for the places and people we serve. Not only do we want Scotland to be the best place to do business, we also want it to be the best place to live and work and we will continue to work in a way that is mindful of our impact on society with Fair Work as our foundation.

This strategy is a key element in our Plan for the Future and sets out how we will:

• strengthen the role of procurement as an enabler in delivering a wellbeing economy;
• drive maximum savings, benefits and efficiency of approach for the taxpayer and provide excellent stewardship of Scotland's resources and help to mitigate the impacts of the cost of living crisis;
• create a more joined up approach to procurement and property across the Scottish public sector to support public sector reform; and
• improve capability of staff, systems and processes across the public sector.

With our progressive approach and innovative thinking, we can deliver Fair Work practices, a strong recovery and provide maximum value for the communities, businesses and people of Scotland.

Nick Ford – Director, Procurement and Property