Chamber and committees

That brings us to the end of the evidence session. I thank the minister for giving evidence this morning.

Further to that question, the evidence that we heard from Colin Smith of the Scottish Wholesalers Association about the rigidity of the structure was quite convincing, whether it was about the shape of pizzas or the difficulty of providing bakery products from Scottish suppliers because they did not meet the nutrition standards. I would just ask the minister whether we can get a commitment that he will have a conversation about that issue with the department and the minister who are responsible. We all support good nutritional standards in schools, but if the minister were to have that conversation about the impact that the standards might be having on local procurement, and how they might present barriers to getting local or Scottish suppliers for certain products, the committee would welcome that.

Bob Doris, do you want to ask a supplementary?

Good morning, and welcome to the 12th meeting in 2024 of the Economy and Fair Work Committee.

I have received apologies from Gordon MacDonald and Colin Smyth. Bob Doris is attending as committee substitute for Gordon MacDonald. Murdo Fraser has been delayed and is expected to join us during the meeting.

Our first item of business is the final evidence session of the committee’s post-legislative scrutiny of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. I welcome Tom Arthur, the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, who is joined by Graeme Cook, head of procurement services, and Nikki Archer, head of procurement and commercial policy, from the Scottish Government.

I invite the minister to make a short opening statement.

The committee decided to undertake an inquiry into the legislation because procurement came up in a number of different inquiries that we have carried out since we started work on those areas.

During our first evidence session, we heard from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce that it had taken feedback from members and that people would generally give the act a C+ for its performance. It said:

“There has been some good progress, but there is lots more progress to be made.”—[Official Report, Economy and Fair Work Committee, 7 February 2024; c 10.]

Ten years after the introduction of the legislation, I am interested to hear where the minister feels the remaining challenges or opportunities to improve the legislation are, and where it has been most successful.

During our earlier sessions, we heard evidence about community wealth building and how the five pilots across Scotland can be used as a positive model in supporting local supply chains. Do you have an update on where we are with the pilots? What do you see as the relationship between the community wealth building pilots and the legislation? Do you agree that the pilots are a way to promote and strengthen the effect of the legislation?

That is helpful. Thank you. As you have mentioned Ayrshire, I will bring in Brian Whittle.

That was not the evidence that we heard, particularly from the Scottish Wholesalers Association. I understand what Nikki Archer has outlined to us, but if that conversation were to be held, the committee would appreciate it.

I call Murdo Fraser, to be followed by Maggie Chapman.

Before I bring in Kevin Stewart, I will follow up on Maggie Chapman’s question. The minister will know that the committee is about to undertake work on disability employment. As part of that, we have discussed supported workplaces and where they fit into procurement services.

We have heard from people who are positive about reform of the reserved contracts provisions under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, which we are opening up to supported businesses, but the minister might want to say more about how public procurement can support such businesses.

We have heard reports that there are some barriers—for example, the areas in which those businesses can participate are quite narrow, and it can be difficult to match them up with opportunities. Is more work needed to recognise the role that supported businesses can play? How do we make it easier for them to access public procurement?