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I appreciate the question and want to record my thanks to the SDP for its outstanding work, which I think we all recognise.

A number of activities are taking place. First, we are one of a number of partners that fund SDP, which runs a range of activities including training, the provision of guidance and local and regional “meet the buyer” events. The Government also works with some of the national events that create opportunities for suppliers to engage directly with buyers. Moreover, there is the range of guidance that has already been touched on in earlier questions and which we provide via the Public Contracts Scotland website, where you will find links to the various forms of support. Therefore, there is the online activity, and there is also our work to support SDP.

On the broader issue of our practice with regard to engagement, Graeme Cook might have something to add.

That work is at a very early stage and we are still scoping things out. As the committee will have heard from previous witnesses, we have started the process of engagement, but the work at the moment is very much about building the evidence base. Instead of the Government presupposing what PCS should look like, it is looking to understand more fully the feedback and the particular issues that have been raised, which Mr Fraser has referred to.

That process of engagement will help to inform our work in this space. As we move forward, I will, of course, be more than happy to keep the committee up to date.

Nikki, do you want to add anything?

That comes back to the issue of what is in the legislation and how that has been implemented. The committee will be familiar with the requirements under the legislation around regulated procurement, the provision of feedback and opportunities for further engagement. The committee will be aware from its evidence taking that there are many buyers who are more than keen to engage with suppliers who are unsuccessful, because such feedback is important in allowing suppliers not only to stay engaged with the public procurement system but to enhance their capacity and ability, and their opportunities, to win contracts in the future.

On the issue of implementation and how we seek to ensure that the requirements of the act are effectively carried forward, I will ask Graeme Cook to come in.

As part of the community wealth building legislation process, in the consultation on that, as well as asking a specific question about the proposed duties, we asked for any feedback across the five pillars of community wealth building. We received specific feedback that suggested that changes should be made to the thresholds in the procurement legislation. At the moment, I am not in a position to say what the Government’s response to that is. We are still giving the matter detailed consideration, but it was raised as part of that process.

I will ask Nikki Archer to come in on the specifics. You raise an important point. As has been suggested previously, I highlight the importance of the requirements being proportionate. We have already had an exchange on the pressures and the resource challenges that we are currently facing.

I will ask Graeme Cook to come in on the point around implementation in subcontracting and then I will come back in.

Again, it gets to the tensions that exist in procurement, which we spoke about earlier, and what we want procurement to do. In recent decades, we have come a long way with how procurement operates. In the past 10 years, we have seen real progress, partly in relation to what has been delivered by the act and partly through the broader work around procurement reform that the Scottish Government has been undertaking. I understand and share the appetite for seeing what more procurement can do—we touched on that with regard to community wealth building—but it always come back to the point about proportionality.

We are talking about the delivery of goods, services and works, which are essential for the functioning and operation of the public sector, but we want to do that in such a way that we can maximise the wider impacts. If we look at the report on 20 years of the sustainable procurement journey, we can see that those considerations went from being an add-on to being a golden thread that goes right through the process.

That speaks more broadly to the aspirations that we talk about for community wealth building, sustainable economic growth, sustainable development and a wellbeing economy—however one wishes to phrase it. That broader consideration of the social, environmental and specific economic outcomes has been a much more upstream concern. We are seeing that change happen in procurement.

It also speaks to the broader point about implementation. You will have heard from a number of witnesses who have appeared before the committee that we have policy and we have legislation, but culture and practice are important as well. That will take time but, 10 years on from the act being passed, we can see that we have made significant progress. That is reflected in the annual reports, as well as in the independent review of the progress that we have made over the past couple of decades.

I agree entirely. I visited a supported business yesterday, and I am visiting another one next week. Last autumn, Scotland Excel ran an excellent event on supported businesses, which I was privileged to attend and speak at.

The committee will be aware of what is set out in the legislation. I ask Graeme Cook to say a few words on some of the work that we are undertaking on dynamic purchasing.

I will ask Nikki Archer to contribute in a moment but, regarding the requirements for the strategies, I highlight the need to set out how bodies are engaging with their areas and the considerations that go into those strategies.

Your point is something that I will take away from this exchange. In the community wealth building consultation, one of the central questions concerned duties to be placed on public bodies to advance community wealth building. We are giving detailed consideration to that, and we are reflecting on the responses to the consultation, but I will certainly take away the point that you have raised about decision making being more informed by the considerations of those on the front line and in the community, leading to better outcomes, when thinking about how we take forward the propositions that we consulted on regarding community wealth building.

I would be happy to write with a summary of the engagement activity that my officials and I have been undertaking with contracting authorities, in time for the committee to consider that in its report, if that would be helpful.