Plans to make public procurement for lower-value contracts
quicker, simpler and more proportionate have been announced.
Subject to Parliament's approval, the Procurement Reform
(Scotland) Act 2014 threshold for goods and services will be
increased from £50,000 to £100,000 and the works threshold will
increase from £2 million to £4 million.
Contracts above these figures are subject to legal rules and
duties but the thresholds have not changed since 2014, meaning
more and more contracts are affected due to the impact of
inflation.
The changes will benefit businesses by simplifying the process
for lower-value contracts and were informed by a consultation
which gathered views from businesses, public bodies, third sector
organisations and procurement professionals.
Public Service Reform Secretary said:
Procurement gives us the ability to influence outcomes that
extend well beyond the goods and services we purchase and is at
the heart at of our work on public service reform.
These changes will create more opportunities for local
businesses, SMEs and third sector organisations whilst reducing
bureaucracy and enabling public bodies to procure more quickly
and proportionately.
Gillian Cameron, from business support initiative the Supplier
Development Programme, said:
The Supplier Development Programme welcomes the changes to the
act's thresholds. We believe that increasing the goods, services
and works thresholds will allow for more contracts to be awarded
through quicker, less formal procedures, reducing administrative
burdens and making it easier for businesses, particularly local
SMEs and third sector organisations to participate in the tender
process.
Background
The changes will be made via an affirmative Scottish Statutory
Instrument to amend the existing thresholds within the
Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. Subject to parliamentary
approval, the changes will come into effect on 1 April 2027.
The thresholds being amended are used to determine whether a
public contract falls within the scope of the lower-value
Scottish public procurement rules. These changes are not to be
confused with the threshold changes which occur every two years
which update the thresholds within the Public Contracts
(Scotland) Regulations 2015, the Utilities Contracts (Scotland)
Regulations 2016 and the Concession Contracts (Scotland)
Regulations 2016. Scottish Ministers must revise these thresholds
to ensure that they remain aligned to the threshold values set by
the World Trade Organisation's Government Procurement Agreement
(GPA).
