Thank you very much, convener, and thank you for the invitation to come along and update the committee on our proposals for implementing changes to procurement legislation in Scotland. I will try to outline the progress that I believe we have made so far as well as our current position and our plans for implementing the changes, which, as I am sure the committee is aware, we must implement by April 2016 to comply with the deadlines set out in the European Union procurement directives.
The committee will be aware that the past few years have seen a period of significant improvement in public procurement in Scotland through the reform agenda. Some committee members will be familiar with much of the background, having been involved in the development of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, which builds on that improvement. The act, which establishes a national legislative framework for sustainable public procurement to support Scotland’s economic growth through improved procurement practice, received royal assent on 17 June last year.
Since then, work on developing regulations and statutory guidance arising from the 2014 act has been carried out in conjunction with work on transposing into Scots law three new European procurement directives covering public sector procurement, utilities sector procurement and the award of concession contracts. The changes, taken together, are complex and the timetable is challenging, so in order to be as cohesive and consistent as possible, we are taking forward the changes as a suite of activity.
Our intention is to make the changes as simple and as easy to follow as we can for all our stakeholders and the procurement community alike and to avoid, where possible, one set of rules applying to large-value contracts and a different set of rules applying to lower-value contracts. We believe that such a situation would be unhelpful to public bodies and the business community.
Although we must complete the transposition process by 18 April 2016, our aim is to try to do so before then; indeed, our intention is to lay the regulations before the Scottish Parliament before the end of this year. Those in the procurement community and beyond have requested that we allow a reasonable period of time between the laying of regulations and their coming into force to give time for public bodies to make the necessary changes to their internal processes and procedures, and we will have to look at that issue quite carefully.
Some of the changes introduced by the new directives are mandatory, but there are certain elements where the Scottish Government has a choice about whether to—or, indeed, how best to—implement further change. Those discretionary elements, and the Scottish Government’s plans to implement them, were the main focus of our recent public consultation, which closed on 30 April. We hope to be in a position to publish the final consultation analysis in the coming weeks, and we intend to use its findings to inform the policy decisions that we need to take as we develop the content of the new regulations.
Unfortunately, I am not yet in a position to provide the committee with a copy of the analysis report. However, I can say that, with regard to those elements of the consultation in which the Scottish Government has set out its view on the best way of giving effect to new legislation in Scotland, respondents seem, for the most part, to have agreed with our proposed way forward.
The consultation might be over, but that is not the end of our stakeholder engagement. You will also be aware that, under the 2014 act, we are required to produce statutory guidance on a number of issues. We have been speaking to stakeholders about the content of that guidance, and we will continue to do so as we develop it.
I repeat what I have already made clear in the chamber: we are looking to introduce in the autumn statutory guidance that addresses workforce-related matters such as the living wage. Alongside that guidance, we will need to commence a number of other provisions for technical reasons. We might also take the opportunity to commence fairly straightforward and, I hope, non-controversial provisions, such as the prohibition on charging companies to participate in a tender exercise.
The changes introduced by the directives and the 2014 act represent a significant opportunity to make procurement easier and administratively less burdensome. As a major consumer in the economy, the public sector, which spends £10 billion a year, can exert significant influence through its procurement policy to support economic growth. We can play a key role in promoting jobs and growth, encouraging innovation, boosting training and apprenticeship opportunities and helping Scottish firms, particularly small to medium-sized enterprises and third sector organisations, compete effectively for contracts.
I welcome the opportunity to engage with the committee at this stage. I hope that this update will provide you with the opportunity to understand our position, and we intend to keep members informed through written updates as we progress.
Thank you for your attention. I am happy to answer any questions.