Summary of community benefits

Community benefits generated through Transport Scotland procurements can be a powerful catalyst to improving the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of communities. The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 stipulates that community benefits must be considered for all procurements greater than £4 million.

In this reporting period, three regulated procurements above the £4 million threshold contained community benefits requirements.

• Multi-Supplier Framework Agreement for Roads based Transportation Multi-Disciplinary Consultancy Services
• Traffic Scotland Operations and Infrastructure Services Contract – Lot 1 Operations
• Traffic Scotland Operations and Infrastructure Services Contract – Lot 2 Infrastructure

Transport Scotland aims to deliver community benefits as part of any procurement activity and we have developed internal guidance to assist staff when assessing the potential to include community benefits in procurements. The guidance provides details on what is required and draft text for inclusion in procurement documents.

During the reporting period, our suppliers have reported that live contracts delivered over 470 new entrants’ positions, around 80 apprenticeships, over 120 graduate positions and 45 work placements. Our suppliers also awarded over 590 sub-contracts valued in excess of £90 million.

Measures introduced as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic meant that during the reporting period engagement with the community, including local schools and colleges, continued to be challenging for our suppliers. This resulted in changes to how engagement was carried out and we have included some examples of the activities and opportunities that were delivered during this reporting period at Appendix B.