Procurement activity: annual report 2023 to 2024

4. Conclusion

The 2023 to 2024 financial year saw a continuation of many of the challenges public bodies had reported in previous years. In their annual procurement reports, public bodies noted facing continued pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of Brexit, the effects of inflation and raised interest rates, global conflicts and cyber-attacks. However, public bodies also included new innovations in their annual procurement reports, including the first mention of artificial intelligence being used to promote efficiencies and improvements in their services.

This report details the procurement activities Scottish public bodies have reported undertaking for the 2023 to 2024 financial year. These are aligned with the “good for” objectives in the Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland 2023 to 2028.

For “good for businesses and their employees”, 61.6% (or £5.1 billion of £8.2 billion total) of the procurement spend in Scotland reported to the Hub (where business size was known) was spent with SMEs. Further, an estimated £1.2 billion of the procurement spend reported to the Hub was spent with third sector organisations.

For “good for places and communities”, of the procurement spend in Scotland reported to the Hub that could be matched to a SIMD quintile (£9.4 billion total), an estimated £5.2 billion (55.8%) was spent in the 60% most deprived areas. Further, of the £9.5 billion public procurement spend in Scotland reported to the Hub where the local authority of the supplier’s registered address was known, £3.6 billion (or 38.0%) was spent with suppliers located in the same local authority as the contracting public body.

For “good for society”, public bodies’ annual procurement reports outlined the following ways in which they aligned their procurement activities with environmental wellbeing and climate duties: monitoring contract delivery compliance on climate change duties, maximising local spend to reduce travel-related impacts, promoting and procuring from environmentally conscious suppliers (Scottish Government, 2026).

For “open and connected”, public bodies reported use of the PCS online procurement platform, using clear and precise language in all procurement documentation, and undertaking supplier engagement activities as evidence of carrying out their duties of transparency (Scottish Government, 2026). Finally, 31 public bodies elected to produce an annual procurement report despite not reaching the £5 million threshold of spend on regulated procurements which would require them to do so (Scottish Government, 2026).