Scottish procurement: open contracting strategy

Strategy to enable us to publish information about our procurement exercises, ensuring greater transparency on how we spend public money.


Why should we publish more information?

The key drivers for making our procurement information more open are:

The key drivers for making our procurement information more open

Improved public services

Making public sector procurement information open and accessible enables the public to understand more about the goods and services that we purchase, gain insight into the procurement process and where appropriate contribute to future design and delivery of contracts. Making the information more accessible can also help those delivering public services make better use of the information themselves. This in turn will improve value for money to the taxpayer and potentially lead to more efficiencies in public procurement.

Innovation and collaboration

Publishing our information in a reusable form empowers others to use the information for innovative purposes. Open information on contracts can provide powerful analytics to shape more informed decisions and help choose the best solution for a given requirement. Businesses can better access and track contract opportunities including details about what, where and when opportunities arise, and how decisions to award contracts will be made. Information on all contracts also lowers the barriers to entry for smaller businesses.

Where comparable information and the availability of unit prices are made available this could be particularly important in the preparation of bids. Analysis of trends, prices and supplier performance can be invaluable in developing a sustainable business. By further empowering the private sector and citizens to engage meaningfully in the contracting process will result in higher quality goods, services and infrastructure.

Transparency

Government contracts play a vital role in the economic development of Scotland and in the lives of its citizens by delivering essential goods, works, and services. Open contracting information makes governments more accountable and builds trust in public services. An open tendering process and open information along all stages of the procurement process are vital to enable a more open and competitive supply market which will in turn discourage corruption and fraud. A recent survey by the Scottish Information Commissioner has shown that the 77% of the public are "more likely to trust an authority that publishes a lot of information about its work". [4]

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