Seòmar agus comataidhean

That is an important point. In any time of challenging financial circumstances, that tension will always be present across a range of policy areas. It is important to reiterate the way in which procurement operates in Scotland. As the committee is aware and has heard from other witnesses, the decisions that we took for the 2015 regulations state that contracts will not be awarded solely on the basis of lowest cost. The ratio of price to quality comes down to decisions that are taken on a case-by-case basis.

I recognise the challenging financial circumstances that we are in and the concern that that raises. The way in which procurement operates in Scotland and the obligations around regulated procurement are such that there needs to be a balanced approach to decision making.

On monitoring, the requirements on public bodies that are operating above the threshold to publish strategies and report are important. That gives a direct answer to how we can monitor things.

The process of continued engagement that I have previously spoken about, as well as our work on constantly updating our guidance, gives us a means of responding to any issues that develop. However, we will continue to monitor the particular dynamics within the system as reports are published and through our on-going engagement with, for example, heads of procurement. Given the financial context that we are operating in, things are challenging, and we have been under huge pressure, so we will continue to monitor that.

On the point about our ability to understand what is happening, I refer back to the reporting requirements under the existing legislation.

A huge amount of collaboration and activity goes on. To pick up on the first point about human resources and ensuring that we have the people in place, we have a strong and powerful story to tell about the work that the Scottish Government has undertaken. I will ask Nikki Archer to provide information on that.

We provide a lot of support. I recognise the fundamental point that you are driving at. We want a system in which we pay a fair price for a good product, not one in which we do not pay a good price for a fair product. That must be at the heart of what we are doing around procurement.

I ask Graeme Cook to talk about some of our work on engagement and providing support.

I cannot confirm a timescale at the moment, because we are still at an early stage. However, I would be more than happy to update the committee on that work in due course, at which point I could respond to any further questions that the committee might have. I appreciate that that is a strong point of interest, and that the issue has been raised by witnesses.

That touches again on the distinction between what we have in legislation and the questions around consistency or variation in implementation. What we have in legislation is very strong and, as I have touched on before, it is supported by a comprehensive package of guidance, toolkits and engagement. A lot of positive work is being undertaken in procurement per se.

Touching on the community wealth building point, which I know you have a strong interest in, a more coherent and joined-up approach across different pillars of economic development will afford us opportunities to go further than we have. With regard to what we have at the moment, and as reflected in the independent report that was published recently on the sustainable procurement journey that we have been on over the past two decades, we have a very strong story to tell and we have made significant progress.

Would Nikki Archer like to add something on the policy aspect and some of the successes that have come from that?

I think that the committee will recognise the legal requirements around equal treatment and non-discrimination under which we have to operate in respect of regulated procurement, and our obligations under the Government procurement agreement and so on.

On your point about gender, part of that involves looking at the supply side and the work that we do in engaging with suppliers, which includes the bits of work that I spoke about previously. Nikki Archer may want to pick up on that, because she referred earlier to the Business in the Parliament conference event, about which we have had an extended conversation.

We do all that we can to publicise and make available that information. I will not repeat the various partners that we work with and the suite of guidance that we produce. We will continue to learn from the situation. One of the things that I will be keen to learn from the committee’s deliberations and report is about what more we can do to increase awareness of the support that is available and to create an environment where we can encourage more SMEs and supported businesses to look for opportunities to engage with public sector procurement.

With regard to Mr Stewart’s specific point about how we raise awareness, I refer back to the points that officials and I have made about the existing suite of support, guidance and engagement.

There is the engagement that takes place between officials and heads of procurement, for example, and there is the support that I have spoken about through the procurement journey. On the point about implementation, as has been identified by the committee, when we have a diverse and sophisticated public sector landscape, it is inevitable that there will be variations in implementation, for a multitude of reasons.

On the point about being risk averse, I highlight the need to ensure that all procurement activity is compliant with the relevant domestic and international obligations to which we are subject.

I will ask Graeme Cook to comment on both of the points that Mr Stewart raised in his previous two questions.

I would just highlight that, in many respects, we have been ahead of the curve with procurement, given what is set out in the 2014 act on sustainable procurement, the suite of tools that we provide to support buyers and the sustainable procurement obligations.

I will ask Nikki Archer to provide some detail and talk about the engagement that has taken place between officials.