Scotland's answer to economic woe: public procurement

With red lights flashing on the global economy, England must look to Scotland’s sustainable way of buying goods and services

At £178bn a year UK public procurement – what the government spends on goods and services – represents the greatest opportunity there is for investment in UK economic development. David Cameron’s article in the Guardian about global threats to the UK economy should be a wake-up call to take advantage of this opportunity.

Scotland gets it. At a recent conference for Scottish procurement specialists, John Swinney, cabinet secretary for finance, employment and sustainable growth in the Scottish government, said public procurement “can support and encourage social, economic and environmental priorities of government”. The importance the Scottish government attaches to public procurement was illustrated by a turnout of more than 500 procurement personnel. No UK government and English public procurement events attract that level of interest, despite a combined procurement spend 17 times greater.