The Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and Police Scotland’s Procurement Strategy 2025–2028 outline an ambitious roadmap to align procurement practices with Scotland’s policing vision, sustainability goals, and socio-economic priorities. Centred on eight strategic objectives, the strategy emphasises value for money, compliance, SME inclusion, fair work practices, and climate action while supporting Police Scotland’s 2030 Vision for safer communities and a thriving workforce. However, gaps remain in addressing racial equity implications and integrating environmental accountability across all procurement activities.
Key Strategic Priorities
1. Alignment with National and Organisational Goals
The strategy directly ties procurement activities to Scotland’s Public Procurement Strategy 2023–2028, the 2030 Vision for Policing, and the Environmental Strategy 2021. A core focus is leveraging procurement to reduce emissions by 35% by 2026 (against a 2019/20 baseline) through initiatives like transitioning to a fully electric fleet by 2030 and embedding circular economy principles under the Circular Economy (Scotland) Act 2024. To ensure operational resilience, procurement will also support modernisation efforts, including the Estates Masterplan and forensic services.
2. Strategic Procurement Objectives
Eight objectives guide the strategy:
Cost Efficiency: Delivering savings through competitive tendering, demand rationalisation, and collaborative frameworks with UK blue-light services.
Regulatory Compliance: Centralising procurement for contracts over £5,000 and enhancing staff training on legislative updates.
SME and VCSE Engagement: Partnering with the Supplier Development Programme (SDP) to host “Meet the Buyer” events and simplify bidding processes for small businesses.
Fair Work Practices: Fair Work First criteria, including living wage commitments, are applied in tender evaluations.
Community Benefits: Mandating clauses for local recruitment, training, and subcontracting opportunities in major contracts.
Equality and Diversity: Requiring Equality and Human Rights Impact Assessments (EqHRIAs) for all procurements.
Innovation: Encouraging outcome-based specifications and collaboration with the Police Scotland Innovation Team.
Climate Action: Prioritising low-carbon suppliers and circular economy practices.
3. Operational Structure and Collaboration
A centralised procurement service oversees £5,000+ contracts, segmented into three categories: Corporate & Estates, Digital/Specialist Crime, and Operational Policing & Fleet. The Contract and Supplier Management team ensures performance monitoring, while collaboration with Scottish local authorities, the Home Office, and BlueLight Commercial aims to aggregate demand and share best practices.
4. Governance and Reporting
Annual reviews of the strategy and Annual Procurement Reports will be submitted to the SPA Resources Committee, with progress tracked via a dedicated dashboard. Notably, the strategy claims no legal, social, or equality implications despite emphasising socio-economic outcomes.
Critical Omissions and Issues
1. Limited Focus on Racial Equity
While Objective Six mandates EqHRIAs, the strategy lacks explicit measures to address racial disparities in procurement. For example:
Supplier Diversity: Despite Scotland's 12.9% ethnic minority population, no targets or monitoring mechanisms exist for minority-owned businesses. The SDP’s SME support does not specify outreach to Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) entrepreneurs.
Community Impact: Contracts for custody food services or uniforms could inadvertently exclude culturally specific suppliers, yet the strategy omits race-conscious criteria.
Workforce Representation: Fair work practices emphasise living wages but do not address racial pay gaps or underrepresentation in supply chains.
2. Environmental Accountability Gaps
The strategy paradoxically states there are “no environmental implications” despite prioritising climate action. Key oversights include:
Scope 3 Emissions: While fleet electrification is highlighted, emissions from suppliers (e.g., forensic lab equipment, IT hardware) are not quantified or regulated.
Waste Management: Despite referencing the Circular Economy Act, no targets exist for reducing single-use plastics or repurposing decommissioned assets.
3. Vague Financial and Resourcing Plans
Although the strategy identifies “additional resource costs” for delivering major projects like the Estates Masterplan, it lacks a detailed budget or staffing plan. This raises concerns about prioritisation, particularly given Scotland’s £1.5 billion policing budget constraints.
4. Contradictions in Equality Reporting
The strategy claims “no equality implications”, yet Objective Six requires EqHRIAs for all procurements. This discrepancy suggests a lack of integration between procurement and wider equity frameworks, such as Scotland’s Race Equality Action Plan.
Recommendations for Improvement
Integrate Race-Conscious Procurement: Develop metrics to track BME supplier participation and align with the Scottish Government’s Race Equality Framework 2023–2030.
Strengthen Environmental Targets: Set explicit Scope 3 emission reduction targets and mandate sustainability reporting for high-risk suppliers.
Clarify Resourcing Commitments: Publish a staffing and budget roadmap for the Estates Masterplan and forensic service upgrades.
Enhance Transparency: Disclose EqHRIA findings in Annual Procurement Reports to demonstrate progress on equality outcomes.
Original Report
Comentários