Procurement Supply Group (PSG): terms of reference

Background

The Procurement Supply Group (PSG) is the leadership group for public procurement suppliers in Scotland. Its core role is to inform and influence Scottish public procurement policy and practice as these affect suppliers. It is currently made up of leaders and influencers from organisations and sectors that reflect public procurement activity in Scotland, including SMEs, the third sector, social enterprises, care and support providers, large businesses and organisations, construction and industry.  

Role

All activity under the remit of PSG aligns to our Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland vision which is “putting public procurement at the heart of a sustainable economy to maximise value for the people of Scotland.”  

This is then supported with the objectives outlined by the Sustainable Procurement Duty, which are to buy in a way which is: 

• good for businesses and employees 

• good for society 

• good for places and communities 

• open and connected 

The PSG’s role is to: 

• provide an ongoing framework for dialogue about, and influence upon, public procurement policy and practice as they affect – and are informed by – suppliers

• influence, inform and support the PPG in its delivery of high level priorities

• take forward, as appropriate, sector specific and agreed actions arising from key supplier focused SG activities such as supplier surveys, consultation documents and policy and practice review documents

• encourage the sharing and dissemination of information to ensure that suppliers are informed, up to date and able to respond to procurement opportunities

• invite participation, as required, from other sectoral ‘experts’ to advise and assist in the development and delivery of agreed PSG actions

Governance 

The PSG meetings will:  

• be chaired by the Director of the Scottish Procurement and Property Directorate
• take place online or face to face and can be hosted (and sometimes chaired) by other PSG members 
• meetings to be held three times year with one of these meetings to be joint with the PPG, with the option to increase frequency as required             

PSG members will: 

• commit to suggesting agenda items in advance of quarterly meetings and lead on agenda discussions as appropriate 
• support a series of blog/social media updates for the procurement and supplier sector, following each meeting
• support and inform SG and PPG supplier consultation and engagement activities, as appropriate
• meet with PPG once annually as an opportunity for priority planning and information sharing
• suggest and invite specific sector representation / input to the meetings, as appropriate
• review PSG terms of reference and membership annually

Work methods

PSG members will adopt a shared learning approach to meetings in order to maximise resources and skills from within the group. 

Meetings will be solutions focused, capturing learning and information on good procurement practice and, building on opportunities to share this with each other and more widely.   

Short-term working groups may be formed as required in order to support specific actions, communications and events.

Information sharing and transparency 

PSG meeting notes and agendas will be published on the group page and any relevant papers of interest can be shared with the Public Procurement Group. The minutes will use organisation name and not personal details to record comments and actions for publishing. The minutes will also be sent to the group for sign off prior to be being published.

Membership

PSG Membership will consist of leaders and influencers from organisations that represent, work with, and support SMEs, the third sector, social enterprises, care and support providers, businesses, construction and industry. The membership will aim to reflect the sector split and procurement spend, which will be reviewed on an annual basis.  

PSG member representatives, when unable to attend meetings, are welcome to propose an alternative representative from their organisations to attend on their behalf.