Scottish Government plans procurement reforms for 2012
Last month the Public Procurement Advisory Group (PPAG) met to discuss procurement issues important to Scottish businesses. The Group is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure and Investment Alex Neil MSP and is made up of senior representatives from the private, third and public sectors.
The Group agreed that the first half of 2012 will be a crucial period for supplier engagement in procurement reform. The New Year will see the start of the roll out of the highly-anticipated Standard Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (SPPQ) and a new subcontract facility within Public Contracts Scotland (PCS), as well as a period of informal consultation on the possible content of the proposed Sustainable Procurement Bill. Strong engagement with the business community and third sector will be key to the success of both initiatives.
SPQQ - Practical feedback from buyer and supplier users of PCS has been an essential driver of improvements to that system. PCS wants SPQQ to follow a similar model of user-focussed improvement to ensure that the tool delivers its main outcome of reducing the bureaucracy associated with tendering for public sector business. Updates on the roll out will be included in future e-zines.
Sustainable Procurement Bill - There will be a process of formal public consultation on the content of the Sustainable Procurement Bill after the draft Bill is written and published next year. Before that, PPAG members agreed to work together to create opportunities for stakeholders to understand the framework which the Bill will be constructed and to propose what they would like to see included in the Bill, and, equally importantly, what they believe should not be in the Bill.
Details of opportunities to contribute to the discussion will be included in future e-zines, or you can email your ideas to Procurement Development.
Source : Public Contracts Scotland