Priority 2
Transport Scotland will support sustainable economic recovery, implement sustainable procurement tools, use data intelligently and deliver responsibly to support its suppliers and the community.
Delivery sub-action 2.1
Use our processes and Scottish Government sustainable procurement tools to support the identification of opportunities for the inclusion of community benefits, Fair Work First and carbon management in Transport Scotland procurements.
Project procurement strategies require project managers to consider how Fair Work First, community benefits and carbon management will be incorporated in the procurement process. Our processes are aligned with Scottish Procurement Policy Notes (SPPN) including 6/2021 and 03/2022.
Regular training sessions have been provided to Transport Scotland staff on Fair Work First, community benefits and the Climate Emergency. The content of the training sessions are regularly reviewed and updated, including where new SPPNs or case law have been published and where lessons learned are identified.
An example is the call-off Contract for the Legal Advisors for the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services. Under this Scottish Government Framework Agreement, tenderers were assessed at framework level on their commitment to Fair Work First and community benefits, and further requirements were included for the call-off procurement to ensure project specific community benefit commitments were made by the winning tenderer.
Delivery sub-action 2.2
Facilitate future opportunities for supported businesses, the third sector, SMEs and local business, and ensuring ethical and fair treatment.
Transport Scotland uses the Quick Quote system on the Public Contracts Scotland website to advertise our non-regulated procurements, which allows fair, competitive tendering for tenders of this value.
Opportunities for SMEs are considered in the procurement strategy for all procurements. This includes consideration being given to procuring the contract in lots to facilitate opportunities for SMEs to bid. Clauses are included in tender documentation for each procurement to ensure subcontracting opportunities are advertised on the Public Contracts Scotland website which can encourage SME and local business access to opportunities.
Transport Scotland’s project procurement strategy also requires project managers to consider whether supported businesses and social enterprises could deliver their requirements, noting that contracts can be reserved for a supported business under Section 11 of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014.
An example of a reserved contract was a call-off Contract the procurement team placed under the Scottish Government’s Framework Agreement for Supported Businesses in February 2023. Transport Scotland had a requirement for scanning and secure disposal of confidential documents which were no longer required in hard copy. Lot 2 of the Framework Agreement for Supported Businesses was for Document Management Services which covered the requirements of this Contract. This Call-Off Contract was awarded to the Supported Business Haven Products and they delivered the contract on time and within budget.
Delivery sub-action 2.3
Support the delivery of the Scottish Government’s vision for transport through sustainable procurement practice.
Transport Scotland requires all regulated procurements to have a sustainability test in place, ensuring that project managers assess the sustainability impacts of their procurement using the Scottish Government’s sustainable procurement tools and which prompts procurement managers to consider the inclusion of award criteria concerning Fair Work First, community benefits and climate change.
Procurement activity within Transport Scotland directly supports the delivery of the Scottish Government’s vision for transport. An example of this is the LEZ Phase 3 National Campaign, which is the marketing campaign required for the introduction of enforcement for the Low Emission Zones (LEZ) into Scotland’s four biggest cities (Glasgow being first with plans for Edinburgh, Dundee and Aberdeen in the future). This work included the marketing and public awareness of Low Emission Zones ahead of enforcement which was implemented first in Glasgow in June. This supports the Scottish Government’s Programme for Government commitment to deliver the LEZs as well as its vision for transport by tackling poor air quality, banning the most polluting vehicles from city centres.
During this period, Transport Scotland also procured a contract for research work on Understanding Scotland’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Network, a study which established a snapshot of the current state of the public EV charging sector. The report assessed the public charging network across a number of key metrics and will be used to monitor and evaluate progress against the Scottish Government’s EV infrastructure strategy and vision and progress towards overarching transport decarbonisation and climate change targets as well as the Just Transition agenda.
Staff are directed to SPPN 03/2022 when completing procurement strategies and to confirm how they will consider sustainability throughout the whole life of the Contract/ Framework Agreement. When the Network Management Contract for the North West Trunk Road Unit was awarded in April 2022, the Operating Company, BEAR, provided several commitments to sustainable measures, including use of fuel resistant materials to reduce the impact of any fuel spillages on the local environment and compaction of recycled material in progress rather than disposing and replacing with virgin materials which contributes to circular economy.
Delivery sub-action 2.4
Monitor and review effectiveness of our procurement processes, taking opportunities for continuous improvement to ensure Transport Scotland remains at the forefront of sustainable procurement practices.
We review internal guidance on sustainability and update it regularly in line with lessons learned, new Scottish Procurement Policy Notes and new policies introduced by Scottish Government. In order to ensure compliance the team undertake regular compliance checks on selected regulated procurement exercises to ensure processes are adhered to.
The Procurement Team regularly deliver training sessions on a number of sustainability related topics and introduce new ones as and when required.
Following the completion of the Procurement & Commercial Improvement Programme (PCIP) in 2019, areas of best practice and where improvements could be made to current processes were identified. One example of this was potential for improvement in the level of automation within our procurement governance processes. Following this PCIP, the Procurement Team upgraded our Contracts Database, which was fully implemented in October 2022. The upgraded Contracts Database has significantly increased the level of automation, leading to efficiencies for the team as well as making information about procured contracts more readily accessible to staff across the organisation.
Transport Scotland has a structured Lessons Learned process that ensures lessons are captured throughout the procurement process, and that our procedures are updated for future tender exercises.