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Procurement  

North Ayrshire Council procures a vast array of goods, services and works. The Corporate Procurement Unit (CPU) ensure that all purchases demonstrate value for money, and all contracts are awarded fairly in line with procurement legislation and the Council's Standing Orders Relation to Contracts. 

The procurement process is open and transparent.

Our vision is "To use our spending power to maximise social, environmental, and economic benefit for the people of North Ayrshire and support sustainable, diverse, and local supply chains."

And our mission is to "utilise our procurement expertise and experience to provide solutions that support local and national objectives for inclusive, wealthier, and sustainable communities."

Where possible, North Ayrshire Council's CPU shall work with other organisations (including other councils) to establish collaborative contracts and take advantage of additional efficiencies.

North Ayrshire Council uses frameworks let by:

Procurement Strategy

North Ayrshire Council's Procurement Strategy (PDF, 672kb) was developed by the CPU in collaboration with North Ayrshire Council internal service teams. It sets out the strategic procurement vision, mission, enablers, and objectives for the period 2023-2026. It applies to all of the council's external expenditure on goods, services, works and social care. Our strategic objectives are to:

  • develop our team to deliver a professional procurement service
  • deliver financial sustainability and optimise commercial acumen
  • tackle climate change and embrace a circular economy on our net-zero journey
  • create an inclusive North Ayrshire with access to fair jobs
  • support sustainable resilient supply chains and optimise opportunities for local suppliers

Annual Procurement Report

The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 Section 18 states that North Ayrshire Council must prepare an annual procurement report on its regulated procurement activity as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of the financial year.

A regulated procurement is defined as a procurement exercise for:

  • goods and services with a value of £50,000 or more
  • works with a value of £2 million or more

The report covers regulated procurements completed during the period, and details how those procurements supported the strategic objectives in the Procurement Strategy:

Contracts Register

Section 35 of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 requires North Ayrshire Council to keep and maintain a register of contracts (a 'contracts register') which must be made publicly available.

North Ayrshire Council’s Contracts Register can be accessed through the Open Data Portal. The Open Data Portal gives members of the public access to a list of live contracts and frameworks and allows member of the public to perform bespoke filters and download extracts.

Standing Orders relating to contracts

The process of procuring is governed by national procurement legislation and North Ayrshire Council's Standing Orders relating to contracts and Contract Procedure Rules for North Ayrshire Council.

Supplier Development

The Supplier Development Programme arranges 'meet the buyer' and other events throughout Scotland.