PPRB (14) 1-2
Public Procurement Reform Board
Minutes of Joint Meeting of Public Procurement Reform Board and
Public Procurement Advisory Group
Held on 8 October 2013
Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh
In attendance
PPRB Members
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Barbara Allison, Director of Human Resources and Organisational
Development, Scottish Government
Alistair Crichton, Executive Director Finance and Customer Services, North
Lanarkshire Council (deputy)
Ian Crichton - Chief Executive, NHS: NSS
Lindsay Montgomery - Chief Executive, Scottish Legal Aid Board
John McClelland - Author: ‘Public Procurement in Scotland – Review &
Recommendations’
Alastair Merrill - Director, Scottish Procurement & Commercial Directorate, SG
John Waddell - Chief Executive, Archangel Informal Investment
PPAG Members
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Stephen Boyd, Scottish Trade Union Congress
John Downie, Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
Annie Gunner Logan, Community care Providers Scotland
David Hutcheson, Institute of Directors
Pauline Graham, Social Firms Scotland
Susan Love, Federation of Small Businesses
Ashleigh McLennan, Scottish Council for Development & Industry
Helen Macneil, Glasgow Council for the Voluntary Sector
Anthony Rush, CBI Scotland (deputy)
John Yorkston, Scottish Chambers of Commerce
Additional Attendees
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Dorothy Cowie, Chief Executive, Scotland Excel
Ian Howie, Scottish Procurement, Scottish Government
Paul McNulty, Scottish Procurement, Scottish Government
Colin Sinclair, Director of Procurement, Commissioning and Facilities, NHS
NSS
Angus Warren, Chief Executive, APUC Ltd
Karen Thomas, Scottish Procurement, Scottish Government (Secretariat)
Apologies
Apologies have been received from:
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Nicola Sturgeon, Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure,
Investment and Cities.
Liz Cameron, Scottish Chambers of Commerce
John Connaghan, DG Health & Social Care
David Dorwood, Chief Executive, Dundee City Council
David Martin, Chief Executive, Renfrewshire Council
Colin Mair, Improvement Service
Rory Mair, COSLA
Nosheena Mobarik, CBI - Mr Anthony Rush (deputising), CBI Scotland’s Public
Services Group
Nigel Paul - Director of Corporate Services, The University of Edinburgh &
Chair, APUC Ltd
Gavin Whitefield, North Lanarkshire Council - Alistair Crichton, Executive
Director, Finance and Customer Services (Deputising)
Item 1 Welcome and Apologies
1.
John McClelland welcomed the members of the Public Procurement Reform
Board (PPRB) and Public Procurement Advisory Group (PPAG) to the second
joint meeting of the two groups.
2.
He conveyed apologies from the Deputy First Minister who was on
Parliamentary business at short notice and unable to attend. She had asked
him to chair the meeting in her absence.
3.
Mr McClelland noted the other apologies and informed the Group of the
resignation of Derek Watson, Quaestor, University of St. Andrew’s from the
PPRB. He noted that Ms Sturgeon had written to Mr Watson thanking him for
his contribution to the Board and the Reform Programme.
Item 2 Minutes of the Last Meetings
4.
The minutes of the last meetings of the PPRB and PPAG, both held on the 28
May, were issued to all attendees as background information.
5.
It was agreed that members of PPRB and PPAG should send any comments to
the Secretariat by 30 October rather than discuss the minutes in any detail
here.
Action 1: All members – to provide any comments/corrections to the previous
minutes to the Secretariat by 30 October 2013.
Item 3 Strategic Discussion - Impact of Procurement
6.
Mr McClelland invited Alastair Merrill to introduce the paper that had been
circulated to inform discussion. The key points were:
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At the last joint meeting there was a rich discussion led by Gary Gillespie
around the broader contribution of procurement to economic growth. The
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paper seeks to build on that, to shape next phase of procurement reform
in light of Reform Bill, Construction Review and European Directives.
7.
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There has been extensive discussion in the Procurement Reform Delivery
Group (PRDG) around strategic outcomes we should be seeking from the
overall programme.
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The paper seeks PPRB endorsement of vision, outcomes and indicators
for third phase of reform, and direction to the Delivery Group to develop
targets, monitor performance and build the evidence base.
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A distinct model of procurement has developed in Scotland over the past
seven years. A key strength of the Scottish Model is a procurement
reform programme that is owned by public sector as a whole; but one that
has been developed in partnership with supplier and third sector
communities.
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As the programme has matured, so have sectoral strategic priorities,
operational responsibilities and accountabilities have assumed greater
importance.
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It is opportune to have a broader discussion around the governance
structure for the programme as move into this new phase, to ensure it
properly reflects and supports the sectoral ownership of procurement
reform within the broader context of a single overall reform agenda.
In discussion the following points were raised:
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The direction of travel was welcomed by all PPRB and PPAG members.
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There is a need to ensure that there are clear linkages between the
outcomes and procurement strategies.
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Outcomes and KPIs needed to take account of measurement, the need
for visibility, consistency, and proportionality.
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Recognition that there were differences between the sectors and the need
to develop plans that accommodate this whilst still maintaining the
direction of the overall programme.
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The importance of understanding the impact of the Procurement Reform
Bill going forward.
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There is a need to consider the contribution of procurement to the broader
policy aims of Scottish Government. In particular perceptions of
procurement need to be addressed more widely, to ensure that it is not
seen as a barrier, but an enabler of economic growth and policy.
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The indicators needed to be sufficiently challenging, whilst recognising
that some would be more relevant for individual sectors than for the
overall programme. - In particular, further consideration should be given
to setting challenging but realistic savings targets.
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SMEs account for almost all of Scottish businesses, and consideration
should be given to how procurement efforts could be targeted at specific
sub-sets of SMEs e.g. start-ups, particular commodity areas/industry
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sectors, or businesses providing employment in areas of social
deprivation.
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8.
It was timely to review the appropriate governance structure to take
forward the Programme, particularly in view of the imminent publication of
the Independent review of Construction Procurement. Merging the PPAG
and PPRB would provide greater momentum and joint ownership, and an
opportunity to refresh both membership and remit.
The Group agreed:
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To endorse the Scottish Model of Procurement, and confirm that the
strategic objectives remain relevant for the next phase of reform.
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That the outcomes should be regularly reviewed, in particular to ensure
alignment with the Bill and broader policy objectives.
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The Procurement Reform Delivery Group should undertake further work to
.i. draw out more clearly how the outcomes align with the Procurement
Reform Bill
.ii. develop the plan(s) to demonstrate how/when the outcomes will be
achieved
.iii. develop an appropriate performance measurement regime/evidence
base to inform future reporting
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To develop further proposals for assisting particular categories of SMEs.
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To merge the PPRB and PPAG, providing collective strategic ownership
of the procurement reform process.
Action 2: All members – to provide suggestions to the Secretariat by midNovember regarding:
i. areas for inclusion in the measurement regime.
ii. future membership
iii. changes to PPRB remit.
Action 3: PRDG – Provide a report to the next meeting detailing:
i. how the outcomes align with the Procurement Reform Bill
ii. the plan(s) to demonstrate how/when the outcomes will be achieved.
iii. the measurement regime/evidence base to inform future reporting.
Action 4: Secretariat – to confirm with Chair the future membership and remit
of the merged PPRB/PPAG by early January 2014.
Item 4 – Performance Report
9.
Mr Merrill introduced the Performance Report prepared by the Procurement
Reform Delivery Group. The key points were:
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The report provides a summary of current evidence available.
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Supplier access information was based upon an incomplete data for
indicative purposes and is expected to improve as the year progresses.
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10. In discussion it was noted:
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There are still issues regarding the collection of savings data at a local
level.
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In addition to savings, the wider benefits needed to be reported in future.
Although there were challenges to collect data, efforts should be made to
provide a more holistic picture of the benefits of the Programme.
11. Each Centre of Expertise provided a brief update on performance and future
work plans.
Scotland Excel: Local Authority Sector
12. Dorothy Cowie provided an overview of Scotland Excel’s current business plan
which was developed around the strategic priorities of local authority
customers. The key points were:
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Scotland Excel is in year 2 of the 3 year business plan.
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The plan reflects the wider context of the national Public Procurement
Reform Programme.
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The focus for the sector is on delivering wider benefits from procurement,
reflecting the complex local authority landscape.
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The input of members of the PPRB and PPAG at the meeting was
welcomed as it would help to inform the development of the next 3 year
plan which is commencing shortly.
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As part of this, a review of the different business models in place across
the centres of expertise would be considered to determine their
appropriateness for the sector.
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Future plans would accommodate changing public services provision
including those related to the integration of health and social care
services.
13. In discussion it was noted:
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The percentage of spend that is covered by collaborative contracts is
lower in local government than it is in health. The reasons for this are
being assessed as part of a review for the next three year plan
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The proportion of savings appears to be lower than other sectors. Like all
sectors, savings for non-collaborative spend is still limited but work is
ongoing to gather more comprehensive data for future reports.
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The supply side noted that the level of engagement with Scotland Excel
has improved but suggested that continued engagement is needed to
counter misperceptions of the role of Centres of Procurement Expertise
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Targets for the sector going forward will continue to be stretching to
ensure that sector achieves maximum benefit from collaborative
procurement.
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APUC Ltd: Higher Education and Further Education Sector
14. Mr Warren provided and overview of sector performance. The key points were:
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In recent years there has been a significant increase in the portfolio of
collaborative contracts available to the sector, many of these have
included technical and regional lotting strategies that have widened
access for SMEs.
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The programme of college reform was having an impact on ways of
working within the sector, as institutions become larger, many are
identifying the need for a higher level of procurement resource and many
are turning to APUC to have that provided as a shared service.
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Going forward, APUC Ltd will work with its sectors to extend its brief to
support the sectors in matters around shared services as well as
procurement, building on work to date for example, plans for ICT shared
services.
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Future work will also seek to approach implementation of the Procurement
Reform Bill, Review of Procurement in Construction and modernisation of
the EU Regulations in a joined up way.
NHS National Services Scotland: Health
15. Mr Sinclair provided an overview of sector performance and future plans. The
key points were:
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A Procurement Steering Group has been recently established.
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Key challenges for the immediate future are changes to public service
delivery, particularly health and social care integration.
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A review of the procurement organisation and services across Health has
been approved by Chief Executives and will be carried out over the next
year.
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Developing an innovation portal for Health, to begin to work with suppliers
to develop innovative services.
16. In discussion it was noted:
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There needs to be ongoing stakeholder engagement on health and social
care integration. Ms Gunner-Logan offered to engage with Mr Sinclair and
Ms Cowie on this subject.
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The sector is keen to capture lessons learned from complaints in future,
and also look at measures for climate change.
Scottish Procurement: Central Government Sector
17. Mr Howie provided a brief update on the central government sector. The key
points were:
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The number of collaborative contracts available to the sector has been
significantly increased, and targets for both Cat A and Cat B (central
government) savings over the 3 year Spending Review period on track.
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Work had been done with many organisations within the sector to improve
local capability and all targets met.
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Currently assessing ways to capture broader sustainability - linked
benefits from collaborative contracts on a more systematic basis.
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The sector recognise the need to consider how to fully measure SME
activity in the sector, particularly through sub-contracting activity (currently
outwith reporting mechanisms).
18. In summing up, Mr McClelland thanked the Centres of Expertise for their
contributions. He noted that the participation had been excellent and reinforced
the earlier decision to merge the Reform Board and Advisory Group.
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