Procurement report – podcast transcript 
I am here with Douglas Sinclair, chair of the Accounts Commission for Scotland, to talk about a new report, Procurement in councils
Douglas, can you tell me what this report is about…
Yes. It’s about procurement – and by that I mean councils buying all the goods and services they need.  To give you the bigger picture…..every year Scotland’s councils spend 5.4 billion pounds on these goods and services – that works out at more than 1000 pounds for each of us.  So it really is a huge some of money…. as is the range of goods and services provided by councils from construction to computers and school meals to care for the elderly.
So what are the main findings?
There has been progress since the Scottish Government launched new initiatives in 2006 and councils themselves set up Scotland Excel – that’s  a body which pools expertise and purchasing power to buy more services collaboratively.  Indeed, over the last three years use of collaborative contracts has increased by 80 per cent to over 503 million pounds.  
What does this mean for the public – it sounds like this is just about bulk buying to save cash?
No, actually there is much more to it than that. It starts with councils getting maximum value from every pound they spend.  But better procurement can also maintain and improve services. Councils are also using it promote economic development through new apprenticeships as well as environmental improvements. And these are positive benefits for local communities - and overall savings can, of course, be used for other essential council services.
So,what do you want to see happen next?
Last year there were reported savings of 71 million pounds. But we think there  is potential to do more. For example, 9 million pounds could be saved just through councils moving from paper-based to electronic payment systems.
And progress has been mixed across councils. There is a lot they can learn from each other. It is really important that they invest in qualified staff and new systems – that is what the better performing councils have done and achieved better service quality and savings as a result.
So we want the pace of improvement to increase across all councils. The key point is that there are real benefits from better procurement and that is all the more important in these times when budgets continue to tighten. 
Good procurement  is quite simply what people expect their councils to do.
Douglas, thank you.