Procurement procedures

The council has a legal duty to make arrangement to secure best value through the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 s2(1)a.This means achieving continuous improvement (while maintaining an appropriate balance between quality and cost); whilst having regard to a combination of economy, efficiency and effectiveness, equal opportunities and to contribute to achieving sustainable development.

The Best Value guidance approved by the Scottish Ministers states that a local authority must be able to demonstrate sound management of resources.

This means, amongst other things,

1. That the authority has a strategy for procurement and the management of contracts and contractors to ensure that it treats procurement as a key component in achieving all its objectives, including those relating to sustainable development, equalities (particularly race equality), health and safety. It ensures that the framing of specifications and the vetting of suppliers is consistent with these objectives.
2. That the authority has appropriate procurement expertise, guidance and training to support its procurement activity and contractual relationships, and ensures that advice is available on developments in best practice procurement law.
3. That the authority complies fully and appropriately with its obligations under european community law on public procurement and any other relevant international agreements.