QMU Annual Procurement Report

Executive Summary

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (PRA) required any public organisation which has an estimated annual regulated1 spend of £5 million or more to develop a procurement strategy and then review it annually. This requirement took effect from 31 December 2016. Organisations (including HE and FE institutions) required to develop and publish a procurement strategy were also required to publish an Annual Procurement Report (APR), reflecting on the relevant reporting period of the procurement strategy.

This report covers the period of 01 August 2021 to 31 July 2022 and addresses performance and achievements in delivering the Queen Margaret University’s organisational procurement strategy.

The development of the procurement strategy was the outcome of consultation and discussion with internal and external stakeholders who have an interest in the institutional approach to procurement and its impact. Stakeholder engagement will also feature in the annual assessments of the achievement of regulatory compliance, strategic objectives of the institution, value for money [defined as the best balance of cost, quality and sustainability] and delivery against the institution’s broader aims and objectives, in line with Scotland's National Outcomes. This process of review and reporting will inform any adjustments to the procurement strategy deemed necessary to secure future performance improvements and to respond to the economic, political and financial influences to which the institution may need to adjust.

Queen Margaret University has analysed third party expenditure and has identified that over the period covered by this report the following expenditure has occurred:

Regulated procurements [goods and services worth more than £189,330; works worth more than £4,733,252] amounted to £43,612,556.61. There were 6 such procurements completed, including the multi-year online programme management procurement, which accounted for £40 million of this figure.
Lower value regulated procurements [goods and services worth more than £50,000, works worth more than £2 million] amounted to £308,357.00. There were 3 such procurements completed.

More detailed information on the regulated procurements, sorted into procurement categories, is provided in Sections 1 and 2 and in Appendix A of this report.

Queen Margaret University has over 645 active suppliers with whom the University did business in the reporting period) and the total procurement expenditure was £9,775,109.84 - £5,795,254.39 of regulated expenditure (recorded on the Contracts Register) and £3,979,855.45 on non-regulated.

The University has been optimising use of national, sectoral, local or regional C1 collaborative contracts and frameworks. As well as bringing leverage-based savings, the burdens of risk, contract and supplier management are shared and the number of resource-intensive formal local tenders that need to take place is reduced significantly. 18% of the University spend went through collaborative agreements.

44% was spent with SMEs who constitute 87% of the total of active suppliers. 7 SMEs featured in the award of regulated procurements.

Section 1: Summary of Regulated Procurements completed

Section 2: Review of Regulated Procurement Compliance

Section 3: Community Benefit Summary

Section 4: Supported Businesses Summary

Section 5: Future Regulated Procurements Summary

Section 6: Optional Considerations

Appendices

Glossary of Terms

This report comprises six sections which address mandatory reporting requirements.

Report Approved – 13 February 2023

By – Senior Leadership Team