New Public Procurement Rules

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New Public Procurement Rules

A change to the Scottish Government’s contract rules to allow suppliers to use an intermediary to raise finance without prior permission was announced on 31 October by the Cabinet Secretary for Finance & Sustainable Growth, MSP John Swinney.

The announcement will help small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) better to compete for public sector contracts. The Cabinet Secretary also announced that he would chair the Public Procurement Reform Board to accelerate the pace of reform in procurement - worth £8 billion every year.

He said: "We can make a significant contribution to sustainable economic growth by reducing barriers to public contracts and making it easier to do business.

This Government listens, and this is a good example of what can be achieved when we listen carefully to the views of our regulatory advisors in business.

“The Scottish Government is willing to take action to benefit our business and enterprise community. In both Angus and Perthshire there is a strong base of SMEs which will welcome these new public procurement rules. As a Government we have taken a stance on this issue to drive forward Scotland’s enterprising society and I am determined that procurement reform will deliver results."

Strengthen Local Economies
He continued: "These measures show that this Government is leading the public sector in providing more choice and opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses.

“It is vital that our towns and cities become developed as localities with a strong economic foundation and this of course involves the small business community playing an important part in our sustainable economic development. Unnecessary restrictions are often the biggest burden to businesses in my constituency and this is a major step forward in removing some of these."

He concluded: “The Scottish Government will continue to drive forward our agenda which will allow our enterprise and business sector to contribute to a society with a flourishing economy. Our new public procurement rules will provide further opportunities for our businesses to develop and bid for public sector contracts which wil,l in turn, improve competition.”