In response to feedback requesting the Single Procurement Document (SPD) process to be streamlined, the following updates have been made:

• the SPD Word document has been updated to version 1.3 to remove the guidance sections at the beginning of the document.  Please note there have been no changes to the SPD questions/the remainder of the SPD questionnaire
• guidance within the Procurement Journey has been refreshed, and can be found as follows:

Single Procurement Document (SPD) | Procurement Journey

Single Procurement Document - SPD | Procurement Journey

Single Procurement Document (SPD) | Procurement Journey

SPD Documents | Procurement Journey

SPD FAQs | Procurement Journey

• Systems e.g. Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) have been updated with the above changes

Places are available to book for the free Scottish Government online workshops on how to use the PCS SPD module.

Question 3D.15 Misrepresentation (an exclusion question in the SPD (Scotland) ) has been updated - the text changes are shown at the end of this message.

Since the ESPD was launched in April 2016, there have been several instances where the wording of this particular question has led to confusion as to how it should be answered by bidders.  The confusion arises mainly because all of the other questions in the Exclusion Criteria section required a bidder to provide a negative, “no”, answer in order to indicate compliance, whereas the Misrepresentation question required a positive, “yes”, answer.

Following consultation with both buyer and supplier representative bodies the text of this question is being simplified so that it also requires a “no” answer in order to indicate compliance, which will bring into alignment with all of the other Exclusion Criteria questions in the SPD.

From 25 March any new SPD requests you create from one of the centrally-controlled versions above will automatically contain the updated version of the question.  Any locally stored versions of the SPD you may have should not be used after this date.

If you’ve issued an SPD request before this date, but the return date isn’t until afterwards, don’t worry, the SPD you’ve issued is still perfectly valid with the old version of the question. However, it may be prudent to seek clarification from any bidders that appear to have answered this question incorrectly, before making any decisions to exclude them a competition.

Additional minor wording amendments to simplify the questions are being made. These will not fundamentally alter the meaning of these questions, and no action is required from buyers or suppliers.  The questions affected are 2A.16, 2A 16.5 and 3D.11. You can view these changes on the SPD Update area on PCS from 25 March.

Both the Public Contracts Scotland SPD (module) and PCS-T have been updated with these changes.

Current wording:

Can the bidder confirm that:

 1) It has not been guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying the information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of the selection criteria

2) It has not withheld such information

3) It has been able, without delay, to submit the supporting documents required by an organisation or contracting entity, and

4) It has not undertaken to unduly influence the decision making process of the organisation or contracting entity, to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the procurement procedure or to negligently provide misleading information that may have a material influence on decisions concerning exclusion, selection or award?

Revised wording:

Has the bidder:

a) Been guilty of serious misrepresentation in supplying the information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of the selection criteria,

b) Withheld such information,

c) Been unable, without delay, to submit the supporting documents required by an organisation or contracting entity,

d) Undertaken to unduly influence the decision making process of the organisation or contracting entity, to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the procurement procedure or to negligently provide misleading information that may have a material influence on decisions concerning exclusion, selection or award?

Annual Report on Procurement Activity in Scotland 2018-19 Published - 22 March 2021

The Annual Report focuses on the procurement activity of more than 100 public sector bodies in Scotland and includes information on areas such as procurement spend by category and SME spend.

This video provides some more information.

Republic of North Macedonia’s accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement: SPPN 4/2023

SPPN 2/2023 Annual Procurement Report Publication for 2022-23 and 2023-24

Public procurement – Australia and New Zealand Free Trade Agreements: SPPN 1/2023 and New Australia/New Zealand Trade Agreement

Upcoming Changes to the Procurement Journey | Procurement Journey

Fair Work practices, including the real Living Wage in procurement

Please note: the content of this page is currently undergoing a review. For further information on Fair Work First in Scottish Public Procurements, including an updated Fair Work First question, please see SPPN 03/2021 or email scottishprocurement@gov.scot. Please refer to the example Fair Work First question in SPPN 03/2021, which updates and replaces the example Fair Work question that currently sits in the Statutory Guidance and Toolkit. 

SPPN 2/2021 - Procurement activity during the Scottish Parliament election period 

Supply chain resilience and diversity: SPPN 9/2020

Annual Procurement Report

In addition to the mandatory procurement strategy, to meet regulatory requirements the organisation must now also prepare and publish an annual procurement report disclosing how its procurement activity has complied with its published procurement strategy. 

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) 2014 Act lists the minimum requirements that the annual procurement report must contain. The Annual Procurement Report Guidance and Template below provides further guidance on the information an organisation needs to include in its annual procurement report to meet its legal reporting obligations, as well as providing information on other content that an organisation may choose to include.

The procurement strategy/revised procurement strategy and annual procurement report should be published in a way that the organisation considers appropriate, but must include publication on the internet.

SPPN 7/2020 provides details of how a contracting authority should notify Scottish Ministers of the publication of its annual procurement report covering financial year 2019-20, including completing and submitting the template provided at Annex A. This SPPN also provides information on notifying Scottish Ministers of the publication of a revised procurement strategy.

Procurement Strategy & Annual Procurement Report

In Public Contracts Scotland (PCS), from 1 October 2020, you will no longer be required to award all lots in one notice and an option to award lots in separate award notices will be available to you.

Further information can be found in the Route 3 Award & Contract Award Notice station.

Public and third sector organisations across the country have taken advantage of Scotland Excel’s free temporary associate membership, designed to support them during the current coronavirus pandemic.

The Paisley-based organisation took the decision early in the pandemic response to support public and third sector organisations with free access to several of its frameworks.

To find out more about the free temporary associate membership, visit the Scotland Excel dedicated Covid-19 Newsroom

These Sustainable Procurement Tools have been designed to help public sector organisations identify and address how they can optimise the economic, social and environmental outcomes of their procurement activity. 

Please note, you will be required to login or register to access the tools.

Any feedback or enquiries regarding the new tools can be directed to: scottishprocurement@gov.scot.

Further best practice sustainable procurement guidance can be found in Route 3 of the Procurement Journey.

Please note, if you have built PJ links into your own internal guidance/systems, these will be required to be updated internally by your organisation.

You can also sign up for automatic e-mails regarding any future changes to the PJ.