To ask the Scottish Government how it promotes ethical procurement processes across the public sector to embed principles such as fair work and sustainability, including in the college and university sector. (S6O-03461)

Scottish public sector buyers are encouraged to consider economic, social and environmental factors systematically through use of the national sustainable procurement tools, associated guidance and training. The tools have been designed to help public bodies to comply with policy and legislation, including a focus on ethical procurement and the recently updated fair work first in procurement guidance. The Scottish Government’s procurement policy and guidance encourages consideration of ethical requirements on a case-by-case basis in a way that is relevant and proportionate to each procurement, enabling buyers to do what will have the greatest impact for a particular contract

PJ’s Foods employs around 100 workers in Maryhill and it is a living wage and living hours employer. The company has informed me that it is disadvantaged by a United Kingdom-wide higher education procurement framework—the University Caterers Organisation framework—and how it may be interpreted by Scottish universities. Consequently, a company that is not a living wage company now makes a daily 400-mile round trip from Bradford to Glasgow to fulfil a university catering contract for sandwiches, generating some 124,800 food miles and 50,000 kg of carbon dioxide emissions each year. I ask the Minister to meet me and PJ’s Foods and to visit the company to discuss how the TUCO procurement framework disadvantages Scottish businesses that do not supply products in other parts of the UK, and how that process can be improved.

I would be delighted to accompany Bob Doris to meet the supplier in question and I thank him for bringing the issue to my attention. Although public bodies are responsible for their own procurement decisions, I have asked officials to look into the issues that Mr Doris has raised so that we can understand them more fully. Since 2009, Advanced Procurement for Universities and Colleges, which is the procurement centre of expertise for the Scottish university and college sector, has worked to specify requirements on menu plans that are based on freshness, the use of seasonal food and flexible and frequent delivery times. It has taken steps, including dividing frameworks into geographical lots, to encourage the active participation of small and local businesses.

As the Minister will know, local work is supported by public procurement as much as possible. As Bob Doris mentioned, we can reduce the number of miles from manufacture to use, which is important for climate change. What will the Scottish Government do to encourage and support local public procurement?

I am sure that Mr Whittle will be aware of the annual report on procurement that is produced by Scottish Government officials on behalf of the public sector across Scotland, which is a requirement of our procurement legislation. The report indicates that more than half of the £16 billion that is available was spent with Scottish companies and more than half of that was spent with small local businesses. The amount of orders that were placed locally and with small businesses in Scotland is far in excess of the equivalent number for the rest of the UK as a whole or the European benchmark. We will continue to make progress to ensure that more orders are going to small and local businesses, and we will work to take a range of steps to encourage and support that. The data will be in our public procurement reports.