The Procurement Journey:
- is intended to support all levels of procurement activities and to help manage the expectations of stakeholders, customers and suppliers. It facilitates best practice and consistency across the Scottish public sector.
- provides one source of guidance and documentation for the Scottish public sector.
- is updated on a continual basis with any changes in legislation, policy and facilitates best practice and consistency.
- is compliant with the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2016 and the statutory guidance.
We would strongly encourage you to use the source documentation in the Procurement Journey for every procurement exercise. This will ensure you are always using the most recent guidance and templates on an ongoing basis.
The term "supplier" is used throughout the Procurement Journey and refers to both suppliers and service providers.
The Journey is designed to be used in conjunction with guidance on current public procurement legislation and the Scottish Procurement Policy Handbook (currently being updated). It is also consistent with the use of electronic procurement systems for example, those provided as part of the Scottish Government’s national eCommerce Shared Services.
The guidance is designed for use by professional procurement staff or staff who are authorised by their Organisation's Procurement Function and/or formally authorised by the Organisation to conduct procurement activities.
The Scottish Government cannot accept liability for actions arising from the use of the Procurement Journey and/or for the contents of any pages accessed or referenced by an external link.
You must consult with relevant procurement, legal and technical staff wherever appropriate. You should ensure, when working with this guidance that you identify and comply with any relevant internal Organisation guidelines, policies or procedures.
Procurement exercises must be carried out in a carefully managed manner that supports the Principles of Procurement. As a minimum the underlying processes must:
- be relevant and proportionate to the contract;
- treat bidders equally and without discrimination; this means treating bidders who are in the same situation in the same way, and bidders who are in different situations, differently; and
- be carried out in a transparent manner.
Browser Information
The Procurement Journey has been tested on the most recent version of the following browsers:
| Desktop Browsers: | Mobile browsers: |
| Microsoft Edge | Google Chrome |
| Google Chrome | Apple Safari |
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| Apple Safari |
If you cannot read all Procurement Journey content or access all functionality please do one of the following;
- if you are not using one of the listed browsers please change to use one of the above
- if you are already using one of the above browsers, check you are using the latest version and, if not, update to this version if possible
If you still experience issues after trying the above, please use the “Contact Us” facility on the top right of this website to send details of the problems encountered.
Please send any queries you have to procurement.development@gov.scot
Construction/Works Procurements
The Construction Procurement Manual should be consulted for detailed guidance on works and construction related projects, however, the SPD (Scotland) can be used for works and construction spend. The Construction Procurement Manual is continually updated to reflect industry best practice and any legislative changes, if you have any queries the Construction Procurement Policy Unit would be please to answer any questions and can be contacted at: PropertyandConstruction@gov.scot
International and national courts provide interpretation of legislation and can establish precedents which must be observed. Caselaw, by its nature, is constantly evolving and can have significant effects.
The legal framework is not static: it evolves through new/amended legislation, through decisions/guidelines and through court judgments. Every public body should therefore ensure that it has appropriate arrangements in place to ensure that staff involved in procurement activity are kept up to date with developments in the legal framework and are equipped to meet their legal obligations.
The information contained in this web site is subject to change without notice
Updated May 2023