Scottish Government procurement: annual report 2024 to 2025

1.Introduction

1.1 Background

This report provides an overview of Scottish Government procurement activity during the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. It reflects our performance as a contracting authority and highlights the wider role we play in shaping procurement policy, capability and systems across the Scottish public sector.

The report is prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, which forms part of the legislative framework governing how Scottish public bodies buy their goods, services and works. These duties ensure that our procurement activity is transparent, fair, and focused on delivering sustainable outcomes for the people of Scotland.

The Scottish Government works collaboratively with public bodies, the private sector and the third sector to maximise the value generated through our collective spending power. This report focuses specifically on:

• Scottish Government procurement activity
• national collaborative frameworks and contracts
• our Procurement Policy function, and
• our eProcurement and Management Information services

Together, these functions support high-quality procurement across Scotland and enable a consistent, strategic approach to buying.

Our contracting activity spans four main areas:

• Scottish Government (SG) core contracts – contracts used solely by the Scottish Government
• Central Government Agencies and NDPBs – non-collaborative contracts placed on behalf of individual public bodies within the wider central government family
• sectoral collaborative frameworks – agreements procured for use across the central government sector, including agencies and NDPBs
• national collaborative frameworks and contracts – commonly used goods, services, utilities and works procured for use across the whole of the Scottish public sector

By bringing these activities together, this report provides a comprehensive account of how procurement supports public services, delivers value for money, and contributes to Scotland’s economic, social and environmental ambitions.

1.2 The Scottish Government Procurement Strategy

Annually, we review our Scottish Government Procurement Strategy to ensure it remains relevant and fit for purpose. This Annual Report demonstrates our delivery against the commitments set out in that strategy for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. Our Procurement Strategy helps us respond to evolving needs, including economic pressures, climate ambitions, advances in technology, and changes to market conditions, while maintaining a clear focus on collaboration, transparency and sustainable outcomes.

The Procurement Strategy is aligned with the Public Procurement Strategy for Scotland (PPSfS). This reporting period marked one year since the launch of the PPSfS which set out a shared national vision for public procurement: “Putting public procurement at the heart of a sustainable economy to maximise value for the people of Scotland.” Over the past year, the Strategy provided a clear and focused direction for Scotland’s public procurement community, supporting greater alignment, collaboration and consistency across sectors. A One Year on Update, published on 9 May 2024, showcased early progress through case studies, demonstrating how public bodies are embedding the Strategy and delivering positive outcomes.

By aligning the Procurement Strategy and PPSfS, we help ensure that procurement consistently delivers long-term value: supporting Scotland’s economy, strengthening communities, advancing equality and fairness, and enabling public bodies to operate efficiently and responsibly.

The contents of this report follows the structure of the Scottish Government Procurement Strategy, which requires us to buy in a way that is:

• Good for Businesses and their Employees
• Good for Places and Communities
• Good for Society
• Open and Connected

These outcomes form the structure of this report and underpin the work of procurement teams across Scotland.

Graphic text below:

Our Purpose

To use our collective spending power to deliver sustainable and inclusive economic growth

• Good for businesses and their employees
• Good for places and communities
• Good for society
• Open and connected

1.3 Methodology

This report draws on a combination of Scottish Government data, management information (MI) and several key national sources to provide a comprehensive picture of procurement activity during the reporting period. Together, these sources help us monitor performance, understand market engagement, and assess the wider impact of our procurement activity across Scotland.

• Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) - Public Contracts Scotland is the national advertising portal used by all Scottish public bodies to publish contract opportunities and award notices. It also enables prime contractors to advertise subcontracting opportunities, supporting increased visibility for SMEs and supply-chain diversification.

Use of PCS is mandatory for all regulated procurements (those valued at £50,000 and above for goods and services, and £2 million and above for works). Many organisations also use PCS for lower-value unregulated procurements via the Quick Quote facility. Data from PCS provides valuable insight into public sector contracting patterns, supplier engagement, and competition levels across Scotland.

• Scottish Procurement Information Hub - The Scottish Procurement Information Hub (the ‘Hub’) provides detailed, classified accounts payable data submitted annually by public bodies. This data is enriched with publicly available information to identify supplier characteristics, including size, location, sector, charity status, and other attributes. It enables analysis of how public money is spent, including spend with SMEs and Scottish-based suppliers. The Hub includes data only for suppliers classed as commercial organisations or non-trade social care providers with whom a public body has spent £1,000 or more in a year.
• Spend data - Where total SME spend is presented on a UK-wide basis, supplier size must be known. Where spend within Scotland is reported, supplier location is based on known postcodes. Scottish SME spend reflects cases where both supplier size and Scottish location are known. These methodological distinctions are important, and we therefore avoid direct comparison between different datasets due to variations in scope, definitions and data collection methods.

Where data on total spend with all SMEs is reported (UK wide), this is based on total size of organisations being known. For total spend in Scotland, this is based on postcode of organisations being known. Scottish SME spend is based on size and postcode being known.

Supplementary Evidence

Where relevant, we supplement core datasets with additional analysis, research and insights gathered by Scottish Government teams during the reporting year. This ensures that the report reflects both quantitative trends and the real-world experiences of procurement practitioners, suppliers and stakeholders.

Purpose of the Methodological Approach

Together, these sources and methods allow us to build a detailed, reliable and consistent picture of Scottish Government procurement performance. They support transparency, enable evidence-led decision-making, and ensure that the outcomes presented in this report accurately reflect the scale, reach and impact of procurement activity during 2024–2025.