Public Procurement Group Objectives 2026-2027

4. Capability and Workforce

Objective 3: Capability and Workforce

Strengthen and align the Scottish public procurement workforce through a ‘Once for Scotland’ approach to capability standards and assessment, improving consistency in skills, development and career pathways, and supporting recruitment, retention and succession planning across all sectors.

• Specific: workforce capability and alignment.
• Measurable: common principles agreed and embedded in key mechanisms.
• Achievable: built on existing frameworks and public to public models.
• Relevant: addresses system wide capacity and resilience risks.
• Time-aware: long-term structural issue supported by phased action.

Quick wins

• Improve the visibility and accessibility of training pathways and existing capability initiatives, including UKG offerings, by clearly signposting learning opportunities and aligning them more closely to capability assessment results, enabling targeted and timely development support.

Proposed actions for public procurement forums to take forward

• Ongoing communication and signposting of learning and development opportunities.
• Develop a coordinated capability standards and corresponding learning and development approach.
• Requirement to capture a pipeline of demand and assess resource implications to investigate capability provider/delivery options.
• Align workforce activity with existing capability assessments and frameworks.
• Address strategic workforce planning, recruitment and retention challenges.

Promote consistent leadership messaging and collective buy-in.