Concerns on procurement process fairness: FOI release

Information requested

1. Pricing and delivery fairness: Our core question regarding the delivery-based pricing and resource engagement plan was omitted entirely. This was a fundamental issue — the scoring method required bidders to build a cost plan for a “typical” time-bound project with no defined complexity. This inherently advantaged the incumbent, who already understood the delivery environment. We are therefore seeking a direct clarification on how fairness was assured in this specific context.

2. Independence of the review: The document states that Social Security Scotland (SSS) conducted the review of its own procurement process. Could you please clarify how
independence was ensured in practice, given that the same organisation conducted both the tender and the review?

3. Feedback transparency and master scoring table: The statement that “information is not held” and that the master scoring table cannot be shared appears inconsistent with the recordkeeping and auditbility requirements under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. We request confirmation on how SSS ensures transparency and learning for excluded suppliers, particularly SMEs, if evaluation data is withheld.

4. Non-disclosure of bidder names: We also note that SSS declined to share the names of other bidders. We do not regard this as a fair or transparent practice, particularly where the award has already been made and where other public clients routinely share such information following tender conclusion.

5. Policy perspective: The response relies heavily on general references to the SME and Third Sector Action Plan, without addressing our concern how such policies are enforced or monitored when specific fairness issues arise within a live procurement.

Response

I enclose a copy of all of the information you requested.

1) The Scottish Government applies; fairness, transparency, equal treatment, proportionality and nondiscrimination to its procurements. Fairness was assured during this exercise in a number of ways, such as;

• Clear details of the requirement in the Specification (This included details of the number and type of testing requirements)
• Inclusion of the Test Strategy. This includes detail of the approach to testing and detail of the Testing Environment and what each type of test looks like.
• An independent report exploring the Testing Service. These documents were included in the Invitation to Tender (ITT) pack.

In addition to the above, fairness and transparency were ensured through issuing a tender to all eligible suppliers registered under the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS); The evaluation process was transparently detailed in the Instructions to Tenderers and was subsequently applied diligently. Any clarifications and answers during the tender phase were sent to all bidders The evaluation process consisted of evaluators, who’s scores/comments were agreed and moderated. A voluntary Standstill period was also undertaken to allow unsuccessful tenderers to consider the feedback on their submissions prior to contract award. Finally, an award notice was published on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS).

2) It is important to note that this procurement exercise was conducted by the Scottish Government and not by Social Security Scotland. So to clarify, the procurement was undertaken by Scottish Government procurement team and the subsequent review of the procurement process, as requested by your submission to the Scottish Procurement – Single Point of Enquiry, was undertaken separately by procurement professionals from Social Security Scotland who were not involved in the original procurement exercise.

3) The Scottish Government does hold key information on it's procurements for effective recordkeeping as required under Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

Scoring records are held for the evaluation on this procurement exercise. However, for bidders that failed question A1 (the pass/fail question), the remainder of their tender response was not evaluated and a score of 0 applied as stated in the Instructions to Tenderers.

Several support resources are available to an unsuccessful bidder to help improve their future tenders.

The Supplier Journey provides guidance on how to bid for public contracts and we also fund the Supplier Development Programme which runs events and works with partners to help SMEs and third sector organisations win work and grow their business.

For regulated procurements, bidders are supplied with the following information which can help with future tenders -

• The outcome of the competition;
• The individual scores given against the published criteria in respect of their submission and those of the winning bidder. This is provided for both quality and price evaluation criteria;
• A summary of why their bid was unsuccessful; and
• Detailed summary/feedback on their technical/quality proposal

Bidders are also invited to request more detailed feedback.

4) There is no requirement under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 to provide details of the unsuccessful tenderers. However, in accordance with this request the names of the bidders participating in the procurement exercise are as follows:

2iTesting

AWTG

IBM UK LTD

Mphasis UK

SPECTRUM IT HUB

UST Global Partnership

VE3

Our response to 1. above provided details on how fairness was applied to this procurement exercise.

5) The Scottish Government’s approach to procurement is underpinned by statutory obligations set out in the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, and associated guidance. These require public bodies to act transparently, treat suppliers equally, and ensure proportionality throughout the procurement process. The SME and Third Sector Action Plan (2024–2026)sets out measures to reduce barriers and promote participation. Supplier dissatisfaction can be raised under the Procurement Regulations and Scottish Government Procurement also provides a Single Point of Enquiry.

Public bodies must publish Annual Procurement Reports, detailing how statutory duties and policy commitments have been applied. These reports are reviewed by the Scottish Government to ensure alignment with the Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland (2023–2028).

In live procurements, if there are concerns, please engage with the contracting authority directly.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.