It may have been written five years ago, but the recommendations from the McClelland Report, which inspired Scotland Public Procurement to new levels of efficiency and performance, are as poignant today as they were then. These recommendations include:

• Procurement “Centres of Expertise” should be established on a commodity-by-commodity basis.
  And these centres of expertise, which can be cross-disciplinary should be coordinated by a centre of excellence.
• It is obvious that there is a level of mandatory compliance required for the effective operation of the [contracts] model described above.
  Projected cost avoidance is only realized if the plan is followed.
• A Charter for Suppliers should be established for the complete public sector in Scotland. It should essentially describe the sector’s commitment to suppliers by defining the generic standards which suppliers can expect from the operation of public-sector procurement and in turn what will be expected of them as suppliers to the sector.
  Suppliers should know what to expect and what to deliver.
• There should be total transparency in connection with procurement decisions.
  Hidden opportunities are lost opportunities.
• There should be a review of non-core activities to establish candidates for outsourcing evaluation.
  Remember, outsourcing doesn’t necessarily mean offshoring. You can outsource to an operation down the street. Outsourcing is about doing what makes financial sense. Letting someone do non-core activities that they are better at than you so that you can do what you’re good at.
• A clear and unambiguous central information systems strategy for the Scottish Public Sector would deliver major benefits in terms of effectiveness of services, staff productivity and overall cost, including improved benefits to procurement.
  Good technology enables good processes and good results. Plus, good technology enables good data, which enables good data analysis, which leads the way to good results.