Route 3 Introduction

Route 3 is designed for use by Procurement Officers. If this does not apply to you, please contact your Procurement Function or Centre of Expertise.

This route of the Procurement Journey provides guidance for regulated procurements for goods and services at the OJEU threshold and above.

The Procurement Journey does not cover works procurements or contracts that cover "utilities" e.g. running tramways. This is the case whether the elements of the contract cannot be separated, or are separable but is the main subject matter of the contract.

Mixed Procurement Exercises

Mixed procurements that contain any activity within the scope of the Defence and Security Regulations or the Utilities Directive must refer to their relevant legislation. Such procurement exercises do not come under the guidance of the Procurement Journey.

Where a procurement consists of a mix of activities:

the main subject of the contract needs to be determined. This will establish which procurement rules apply e.g. a procurement with a goods and a works element, which has the provision of goods as the main subject matter, should be treated as a goods procurement exercise. (It is important to focus on what the main subject is i.e. there could be a contract with more goods supplied, however, the works element may still be the main subject/purpose of the contract or vice versa.) It is important to note that in this case, the value of the relative spend is not the only factor in identifying the main subject.
partly services (including Care and Support Services and those detailed in schedule 3, and partly goods: the main subject of the contract is determined by which of the services or goods has the highest estimated value.
Care and Support Services and those listed in schedule 3 and partly for other services: the main subject of the contract is determined by which of the services has the highest estimated value.

Route 3 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 procurement exercise for goods and services
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 3, 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 your procurement exercise, the types of questions you might ask of stakeholders before starting your procurement could include:

Have alternatives to procuring been considered and ruled out?
Do you have a budget?
Is there a robust documented business case supporting this procurement?
Will this expenditure stand up to public scrutiny?
Has Procurement been involved in the development of the business case?
Procurement can: cost options; enable flexibility; minimise risk; and/or inform decisions regarding the way forward?
Are you aware of opportunities to buy your specific requirements through existing collaborative contracts? If som do you know how to access them?
Can you use output information from you Organisation's use of the Prioritisation Tool
For Care and Support Services, when considering continuing an existing service the Flowchart to Help Decision Making for the Continuation of an Existing Service provides additional guidance.
For Care and Support Services, please also refer to Specific Considerations and Rules for C&SS Contracts.

Consideration must also be given to Planning, Sustainable Procurement and Risk Management throughout the Journey.

Purchases of goods and services are the subject of Freedom of Information requests.

Please be aware that where the term 'commodity' is used within the Procurement Journey this can equally refer to categories and/or services.

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

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 any new information.

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

Quickfire Guide

Procurement Exercise Review and Approval

Suggested review and sign off points are:

At project initiation
After initial Opportunity Assessment
For approval of strategy, including budget
For contract management approach
For approval of Procurement Documents
At Contract Award stage
At implementation stage

Throughout the Journey you will see reference to these sign off points at the relevant sections with supporting documents.

Any approval and review of the project plan should be subject to your organisation's governance arrangements.

Any documents you need are listed below

Specific Considerations for CSS Contracts

(file type: docx)

You are now ready to Begin Route 3 of the Procurement Journey.

Please ensure this guidance is used in conjunction with the internal governance, policies and procedures for your Organisation.

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