Annual Procurement Report 2022-2023

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Description

Introduction

As required under section 18 of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (“the Act”), a contracting authority must publish an Annual Procurement Report. The Annual Procurement report monitors Registers of Scotland’s procurement activities against delivery of its procurement strategy and should be published as soon as is reasonably practicable after the end of their financial year.

Registers of Scotland (RoS) is pleased to publish our sixth Annual Procurement Report. The content of this report covers all regulated procurements completed during the period 1st April 2022 to 31st March 2023 and details how those procurements supported the objectives included within the organisations Procurement Strategy.

Key benefits in the delivery of the Procurement Strategy are:

• Updating process and procedures to comply with the requirements of the new procurement rules and regulations.
• Increasing time spent on strategic aspects of procurement activities.
• Supporting savings when appropriate to do so.
• Embedding RoS’s community benefits approach into all relevant and proportionate contracts delivering a greater volume and increased variety of better outcomes across a wider range of commodities.
• Transitioning to the Scottish Government Procurement Journey which standardised and aligned our processes and procedures and reduced risk and duplication.
• Ensuring Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are provided targeted opportunities as standard within our Quick Quote process.

RoS will be assessed as part of the national Procurement and Commercial Improvement Programme (PCIP) between May and June in 2024. The PCIP assessment that was planned to take place in late 2020 is now taking place in 2024 due to the pandemic.

Procurement Model

RoS follows the Scottish Procurement Model (Fig.1) which sets the principals of:

• Embedding sustainability in all we do.
• Improving supplier access to public contracts.
• Maximising efficiency and collaboration.
• Delivering savings and benefits.

At RoS, we ensure compliance with this model throughout our work and there is clear alignment of our practices to the stages of the Procurement Journey.

RoS Procurement in Numbers

RoS Regulated Procurement during 22/23

The procurement team collaborate closely with internal customers to develop new requirements and the renewal of existing contracts. During the 2022/23 period RoS completed 484 procurement exercises.

RoS has a commitment to use Scottish Government and Crown Commercial Services Frameworks where possible. Below is a summary of this procurement activity.

• 441 Quick Quotes (inc. Framework Call-Offs)
• 2 World Trade Organisation/Global Procurement Agreement Procurement exercises
• 41 Regulated Exercises (Non-OJEU)

Responsible and Sustainable Procurement

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 includes a sustainable procurement duty on public sector bodies which requires them to conduct their procurement in a way that will secure economic, social, and environmental wellbeing and a requirement that public bodies consider the use of community benefits in major contracts.

RoS continues to promote the use of community benefits within procurement exercises where relevant and proportionate to the contract.

All contracts appointed in this period support the Living Wage and are striving to deliver further community benefits.

Kinross Wooden Products - Case Study

Kinross Wooden Products Company commenced discussions with RoS to develop a project that would uplift and remanufacture surplus office furniture that was currently stored within Meadowbank House because of changes to hybrid working arrangements.

The aim of the project was to create a sustainable and circular process which reduced the environmental impact of the surplus products and diverted significant tonnages of potential office furniture waste from landfill. As the number of homeworkers increased, there was a need to provide smaller footprint, ergonomic home desks with a minimal carbon footprint and it was agreed that a manufacturing process would be developed utilising the materials from the surplus desks to supply homeworkers across the country.

By January 2023, the total volume of furniture uplifted from Meadowbank House was 44.1 tonnes.
This furniture has now been remanufactured and supplied back into the general marketplace, resulting in a CO2e saving of 126 tonnes (compared with waste disposal and new 'virgin materials' furniture being manufactured).

Organisations that have benefited from the remanufactured products are RSPB Scotland, Victim Support Scotland, Churches Action for the Homeless, Green Action Trust, Edinburgh Dog & Cat Home, Scottish Agronomy, Codebase, Utili-Tay Carbon Recovery, Scottish Wildlife Trust, various primary schools, and community groups.

Learn more about the Kinross Wooden Products case study.

Fair work practices

RoS has adopted Fair Work First principles (Fig.2) as an employer, through commitment to the delivery of high-quality public services, and recognises that this is critically dependent on a workforce that is well- motivated, well led, has appropriate opportunities for training and skills development and is engaged in decision making at all levels across the organisation.

These factors are also important for workforce recruitment and retention, and continuity of service.

To ensure the highest standards of service quality in the contracts we procure, we expect suppliers to evidence a positive approach to fair work practices as part of a fair and equitable employment and reward package for all employees involved in the delivery of any RoS contract.

Where proportionate and relevant we evaluate tender responses on the following Fair Work First criteria:

• A fair pay and equal pay policy that includes a commitment to supporting the real Living Wage,
  including, for example, being a Living Wage Accredited Employer
• Investment in workforce development including a strong commitment to Modern
  Apprenticeships
• No inappropriate use of zero hours contracts
• Flexible working (flexitime and career breaks) and support for family friendly working and wider
  work life balance
• Appropriate channels for effective voice and employee engagement, including trade union
  recognition.
• Take action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace,
  which reflects the population of Scotland in terms of age, gender, race, and disability.

Modern Slavery

In 2022/23 RoS published its Modern Slavery Statement. This details the measures that RoS are taking to ensure that no modern slavery or human trafficking is occurring in our organisation or our supply chains.

Read our Modern Slavery Statement.

Supplier Development Programme

RoS continues to be a member of the Supplier Development Programme (SDP).

The SDP was established in 2008, and is a partnership of Local Authorities, Scottish Government and other public bodies working together to provide free support to businesses in all aspects of tendering. The SDP assists businesses to become tender ready for public procurement and improves all-round efficiency, sustainability, and market potential.

RoS attended this year’s Meet the Buyer event held in the Edinburgh International Conference Centre.

Procurement will continue to support these events in 23/24.

Prompt Payment

RoS ensure (where appropriate) contracts are awarded to bidders who have good payment performance history and have systems in place so that their full supply chain is paid on time and in accordance with the terms of the contract.

Prompt payment is a priority when seeking to act in a responsible and sustainable manner. We are committed to paying suppliers and understand the importance of prompt payment to ensure that suppliers do not have cash flow difficulties.

Our on-time payment performance is 92.29% payments made in fewer than 10 days and 99.22% within 30 days.

SMEs

We are pleased to report that during this period we have worked with a wide range of suppliers.

During 2022/23, RoS' spend with SME’s increased from 38% (in 21/22) to 53.42%. RoS engaged with more SME’s increasing from 138 to 155 with a spend profile up from £12M to £16M, an increase of approximately £4M.

Supported Businesses

RoS uses the Supported Businesses Framework for Furniture and Signage and IT Waste Disposal, as and when we have a procurement requirement. We engage with supported businesses and will continue to seek future opportunities to use them.

An ongoing partnership with Kinross Wooden Products Company allowed RoS to manage surplus furniture with minimal environmental impacts and significant social and economic benefits.

Via a youth enterprise programme providing job seekers and disadvantaged young people with new skills and opportunities, significant volumes of furniture from Meadowbank House were remanufactured and supplied back into the general marketplace as an alternative to items made with virgin materials, with various charitable and community organisations benefitting from the products.

By January 2023, 44.1 tonnes of furniture had been uplifted, leading to an estimated carbon saving of 126 tonnes. Significant savings were also achieved in relation to end-of-life IT equipment; through our ongoing partnership with Restore Technology, over 5,000 kg of equipment was re-used or recycled during 2022/23.

Community Benefits

RoS consider the inclusion of Community Benefits in line with S18(2) of The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 for all procurement processes for relevant contract at or above £4 million in value. As an organisation, we have decided to go further and consider Community Benefits, for all procurement at or greater than £1 million in value. There were 2 contracts awarded that contained Community Benefits.

Mitie Conservation Day - 23rd August 10:30am – 12:30pm

Mitie, who were awarded the Facilities Management, Hard Services contract in 2022, organised a Conservation Day with the support of RoS colleagues and Historic Environment Scotland (HES).

HES are a leading public body established to investigate, care for, and promote Scotland’s historic environment. The HES Ranger Service helps to protect Holyrood Park, Park and Run guided walks, group tours and other events for visitors. On the 23rd of August volunteers from Ros joined HES and Mitie to help clear up litter in Holyrood Park. This is the first time we’ve worked with an appointed contractor on a Corporate Social Responsibility project, and it went well, with the volunteers able to clear some areas the rangers don’t often get to.

Climate Change

In September 2021 RoS published a 5-year Sustainability & Climate Change Strategy which sets out our vision on how we aim to reach net zero by 2045. We will aim to reduce our carbon footprint by 11% annually and the areas which we will focus on to achieve this include:

• Energy use and water management
• Waste and circular economy
• Digital innovations
• Sustainable travel and staff commuting
• Sustainable procurement
• Biodiversity
• Green recovery: hybrid working.

In line with our commitment to achieve net zero emissions by 2045, a Winter Heating Strategy was introduced in early 2023 to lessen heating demand at Meadowbank House during the colder months; the temperature of occupied wings was reduced by 2 degrees, and some wings were closed with their temperature being reduced further.

Early figures indicate that this has been a success - gas usage figures from the first full month, February, show a 40% reduction in relation to average February usage in the previous three years.

An ongoing LED lighting project has also supported RoS’ move to net zero, with lamp replacement being carried out in Meadowbank House levels 1 and 2 during 2022/23; this is expected to save approximately 70,000 kWh per year, with associated annual cost savings of approximately £35,000.

The benefits of these interventions are reflected in our carbon footprint for 2022/23, which is 815 tonnes of CO2; this is 8 tonnes lower than the previous year’s figure.

Through our Procurement activity, we will:

• Drive environmental performance reporting.
• Improve efficient use of resources.
• Continued integration of sustainability criteria into contracting and incorporating monitoring where possible in line with relevant specifications.

Savings

Using the Scottish Government’s 'Procurement Benefits Reporting Guidance' methodology, RoS procurement achieved £950,000 of cash savings for the period, a 9.8% saving on the annual expenditure. This has been achieved by identification of available frameworks and further competitions.

Learning and Team Development

RoS use the Scottish Governments Public Sector Procurement Competency Framework to aid professional development within the procurement team.

Professional development for the team also continues through the Chartered Institute for Purchase and Supply.

The team also undertook internal and external training to further their knowledge and expertise, The courses included: - CIPS Ethical Procurement 2023, Sustainability Training, Introduction to Public Procurement.

A few of our delivery partners are shown below: