Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government Procurement and Property Directorate (SPPD) conduct all procurements in accordance with the requirements of procurement law which requires that we treat all providers equally and without discrimination. National Statutory, Policy and Best Practice guidance is available to support buyers across the public sector on delivering against our ambitions, along with a range of point-of-use tools, support and training for buyers and suppliers.

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 includes a Sustainable Procurement Duty which requires all public sector procurers to consider how their procurement process can:

“Facilitate the involvement of small and medium sized enterprises, third sector bodies and supported businesses in the procurement process” (Section 9(1)(a)(ii) of the Act)

To support the procurement officers with making decisions about the best approach to market, the Scottish Government provide a suite of Sustainable Procurement tools which ensure that appropriate consideration is given at strategy stage to the nature of the requirement, the complexity of the market and the volumes which require to be delivered to identify the best strategy and approach.

The outcome of this test is considered by the team and informs the strategy which is then presented to a cross sectoral User Intelligence Group (UIG), consisting of procurement and technical staff from across the public sector. For the provision of the national electricity framework, the UIG agreed with the SPPD recommendation that a single supplier framework would deliver best value, taking into account the requirement for competitive pricing and guaranteed security of supply.

The framework terms and conditions have a mechanism for local authorities to approach EDF to sell electricity which they have generated. The Framework also has included the option of Power Purchase Agreements.

The terms and conditions state that for the Supply of Electricity from a self-generating source the Supplier shall enter into a Power Purchase Agreement with such Scottish Public Sector Body on normal commercial terms. Such purchase shall stand entirely separate to the arrangements under the Framework and the Supplier shall not be under any obligation to sleeve the electrical output of such Public Body’s facility into the supply of electricity under the framework.

The Supply of Electricity agreement has also included the options of 6 different Power Purchase Agreement variations as part of the Statement of Requirements and the Terms and Conditions.

Inclusion of these terms within the structure of the Framework Agreements ensures that our procurement of Electricity is conducted in a fair and proportionate manner.

The Practitioner Advisory Group was set up in March 2024, and has met three times since, and is due to meet again in November 2024.

The Group acts as a sounding board for the Scottish Government in developing its proposals for changes to the compulsory purchase system. As indicated in the Programme for Government 2024-25, the Scottish Government will issue a package of proposals for public consultation, which is due in autumn 2025. This will pave the way for a comprehensive bill in the next Parliament.

Further information on the Practitioner Advisory Group, including the minutes of their meetings (once agreed by the Group), can be found at: https://www.gov.scot/groups/compulsory-purchase-practitioners-advisory-group/ .

Further information on compulsory purchase reform programme can be found at:

https://blogs.gov.scot/planning-architecture/2024/07/09/compulsory-purchase-reform/.

There is no mandate for (a) local authorities or (b) other public sector organisations that are generating power, to sell that power to Scottish Government or the appointed contractor under the National Electricity Framework.

Ofgem administer a Smart Export Guarantee (SEG) scheme where renewable electricity can be fed into the grid. Customers can apply for a SEG tariff, where their generating system meets the SEG eligibility requirements.

EDF (the current framework supplier for electricity) have a SEG licence to facilitate this service.

This or any other arrangement a local authority or public sector organisation puts in place to sell power and find the best price in the open market, is outside the terms and conditions of the electricity framework. However, a local authority or public sector organisation can have an export arrangement in place and remain part of the wider portfolio.

The National Electricity Supply Framework is not mandated however all 32 Local Authorities use the framework and there is local authority representation on the Risk Management Committee who oversee the purchasing strategy.

There are 107 entries in the pilot of the Cladding Remediation Programme.

Pilot assessments have been undertaken for 30 of the entries. A pilot assessment includes those carried out prior to the publication of the Single Building Assessment (SBA) specification on 21 June 2024. This number relates to known pilot assessments only; developers, homeowners or other organisations could have commissioned assessments without informing the Scottish Government. Therefore, the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

Works to mitigate or remediate risks have started for five of the entries. Works in this context refers to any action taken to address known cladding-related risks, including Urgent Interim Measures. This number relates to known works on a pilot entry only; developers or other organisations could have carried out works without informing the Scottish Government. Again, this means the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

Works to remediate risks have not been completed for any of the entries. Although work on the external wall cladding system has been undertaken on one building, an SBA – carried out to the standard to be specified by Scottish Ministers under section 32 of the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024 – is required to ensure that all works required have been identified and completed ahead of the remediation being designated as complete.

Within the National Electricity Supply Framework no power is procured from community – owned energy providers.

The framework has been set up to supply electricity to all of the Scottish Public sector. The supplier on the framework is required to purchase power on the futures market through a risk managed hedging strategy. The strategy is owned by a Risk Management Committee who represent all of the main Public Sector bodies.

The framework supplier needs to ensure it has the capacity to secure forward purchases on behalf of all framework customers. The supplier also needs to account manage each individual customer organisation including billing, invoicing, meter reading queries, complaints, energy efficiency queries, and social value programmes within the framework. As well as managing the consumption for over 30,000 meters for electricity that are part of the portfolio. Therefore, the supplier needs to have capacity to trade large volumes and achieve Value For Money for the whole Scottish public sector.

There are 107 entries in the pilot phase of the Cladding Remediation Programme. Entries in the pilot can comprise a single block or building, or a development, or part of a development consisting of multiple blocks or buildings.

Only a Single Building Assessment meeting the Scottish Standards can identify what cladding if any, a building has and further identify whether the cladding is unsafe.

Developers, homeowners or other organisations could have commissioned assessments without informing the Scottish Government. Therefore, the true number may be higher and could increase as further information becomes available.

The Scottish Government has provided Scottish Agritourism with £60k funding in 2024-2025 to support with preparations for Scotland hosting the 2026 World Agritourism Conference.

The Scottish Government remains committed to maximising the important contribution forestry makes in tackling the climate and biodiversity crises, despite the most challenging budget settlement from the UK Government since devolution.

As announced in the Programme for Government in 24-25 around 10,000 hectares of new woodland, including around 4,000 hectares of native woodland will be created. Putting this in context, it will still allow Scotland to create more woodland than the rest of the UK combined.

To support this work Scottish Forestry continues to develop the Woodland Carbon Code, which provides an alternative revenue stream for land owners to support woodland creation. Scottish Forestry have already exceeded the target to increase the woodland carbon market by 50% by 2025. This year Scottish Forestry are piloting a new funding scheme allowing applicants to access a reduced public grant alongside Woodland Carbon Code funding, which will allow greater woodland creation to take place with reduced public funds. SF are also in the process of rolling out improvements to systems and processes to make the woodland creation application process more efficient and transparent, these are captured in a new Woodland Creation Route Map which will be published shortly.

The National Electricity Framework is used by all sectors including, Local Authorities, NHS bodies, Universities and Colleges, Central Government inc NDPBs and agencies, Housing Associations, Charities etc. The split of % usage of the electricity framework is as follows: