News

Advertising subcontracting opportunities on the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) website

Purpose
1. Prime contractors can use the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) website, including Quick Quote, to advertise available subcontracting opportunities that are part of a public contract.

Key points
2. The key points:

• Public bodies in Scotland are already required to use PCS to advertise public sector contract opportunities of £50,000 or more for goods and services or £2 million or more for works contracts.


• This note asks public bodies to encourages the use of PCS by their prime contractors to offer more opportunities for local suppliers including SMEs, the third sector and supported businesses to win contracts down the supply chain of a public contract.


• As a matter of good practice, it is recommended that once a public contract has been awarded, the successful tenderer is encouraged to advertise its own sub?contracts on PCS.  However, this is not intended to cut across supply chain arrangements that the prime contractor may already have in place.


• Public bodies should remind prime contractors that they can also use the Quick Quote facility on PCS for lower value sub-contract opportunities.

Background
3. Scotland’s Purpose is to ‘focus on creating a more successful country with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish through increased wellbeing and sustainable and inclusive economic growth’. Through compliance with the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (the 2014 Act), including the sustainable procurement duty and community benefit requirements, public bodies in Scotland can demonstrate their contribution to the Purpose

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