Route 2 Introduction

This Route of the Procurement Journey provides guidance for regulated procurements, as defined in the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, which are between £50k and the OJEU Threshold for goods and services

Route 2 does not apply to construction (works). Please refer to the Construction Handbooks

Route 2 is not intended to replace training and it is assumed that individuals will have been trained in:

the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and any other legislative requirements;
the procurement cycle and
any applicable local procurement policies, guidelines and governance arrangements.

The main objectives of this route are:

to provide a step-by-step guide to conducting a route 2 procurement exercise
to provide a set of guides and templates that can be used to collate and analyse the data required when conducting the procurement exercise
to standardise the public sector procurement process across organisations
to highlight the minimum legal and policy obligations involved at each stage of the process

Before beginning Route 2 please consider the following:

Good procurement is not just about buying well but it's often about buying less or, indeed, not buying at all.

Depending on the specifics of the procurement exercise, the types of question you might ask of your stakeholders, prior to commencing the procurement, could include the following

have alternatives to procuring been considered and discounted?
do you have a budget?
is there a robust documented business case supporting this procurement?
are you aware of opportunities to buy your specific requirement through existing collaborative contracts and do you know how to access them?
what is the level of risk associated with the delivery of this requirement?

Please be aware that where the term "Commodity" is used in the Procurement Journey, this can equally refer to services.

For complex and higher value Regulated Procurements, you may find some of the guidance and tools in Route 3 to be of benefit, but you only need to follow Route 3 where the contract is required by law to be advertised in OJEU.

Quickfire Guide

Sign Off Points

There are natural break points within the Procurement Journey that can be used as review points for sign off and approval to proceed to the next stage of the process.

Please note that, other than on the final contract, there is no legal requirement for a ‘wet’ signature at any point in the procurement process.

Suggested review and sign off points are:

at Project Initiation
after Initial Opportunity Assessment
for approval of Strategy including budget
for approval of Contract Notice, Selection Stage and/or ITT
at Contract Award stage
at Implementation stage

Throughout the Procurement Journey you will see reference to these sign off points at the relevant sections, with accompanying documents/templates. Any review and agreement to the project plan should be subject to your Organisation's governance arrangements.

For Care and Support Services

Please be aware that where the term "Commodity" is used in the Procurement Journey, this can equally refer to services.

Where a contract includes a mix of services that include Care and Support Services the categorisation of the contract into a Care and Support contract will depend on whether the majority of the contract cost is for those services. Where the cost is made up of more than 50% of those services then the contract will be Care and Services and vice versa. For contracts valued between £50,000 and OJEU Threshold for social services i.e. contracts below the EU-regulated threshold, where the cost of the services is evenly split i.e. 50-50, the contract is deemed to be a Care and Support Services contract.

For Care and Support Services it is important to refer to the guidance contained in the Care and Support Services Station.

You should use lessons learned from previous contracts/procurement exercises to inform your new strategy. As you progress through the Journey you should constantly re-inform your strategy with new information.

Consideration must be given to Planning, Sustainable Procurement and Risk Management throughout the Journey and records should be kept for audit purposes. It should be noted that purchases of goods and services are routinely the subject of Freedom of Information requests. All Route 2 Procurement Exercises must be conducted in line with any relevant requirements laid out in your Organisation’s Procurement Strategy. Please ensure this guidance is used in conjunction with the internal governance, policies and procedures for your Organisation.

You are now ready to begin Route 2 of the Procurement Journey.

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