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I think that balance and proportionality are becoming the go-to words of this session. They are specific requirements that have to be met, both in the strategies and in the reporting.

Of course, there is nothing to preclude a public body from going beyond those requirements, and there is nothing to preclude a public body whose annual expenditure is below £5 million from also producing strategies and reports. It is important to have that flexibility to reflect the fact that different public bodies will have different focuses with regard to procurement. Of course, there are requirements that most public bodies will need to address through procurement, but there will also be things that are more sector specific.

This builds on Mr Doris’s line of questioning, and I am conscious that Nikki Archer’s answers highlighted the need for a proportionate approach. We want to support, encourage and enable businesses to go on that journey. If we have a set of requirements that small operators in particular do not have the capacity to comply with, we will be missing an opportunity to take them on that journey.

Nikki Archer might want to provide additional feedback on what emerged from the cumulative annual reports, as reflected in the ministerial report.

You raise a number of important points, Mr Whittle. I am glad that you took the opportunity to highlight East Ayrshire, which has been an inspiring example. A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of visiting Mossgiel farm, which has benefited directly from the opportunity to work in partnership with East Ayrshire Council. East Ayrshire sits within the broader regional approach to community wealth building that I referred to earlier.

What we have already provided for, in legislation and in practice, is support for the objectives that you have set out. That includes opportunities for lotting. For example, we have seen flexibilities around supply for organisations that do not necessarily possess the logistical capacity to deliver. The committee will have heard about that previously. Contracting authorities that are obliged to publish a strategy and to report on it are required to have a specific statement on their regulated procurement of food. Therefore, there is a strong foundation in that regard.

As we look towards the community wealth building legislation and the further foregrounding of those principles, there will be an opportunity to reiterate and reinforce the importance of dealing with the concern that you have expressed and operating within the structures and the framework of procurement law to identify opportunities to use local suppliers.

I recognise the desire to go faster. We have made solid progress and we have a strong legislative foundation. The example of East Ayrshire demonstrates what is possible, and there will be an opportunity to give that further consideration as we move forward with our community wealth building ambitions.

From the evidence that the committee has taken from Scotland Excel, I know how committed it is to engaging with suppliers and taking a proactive approach. It does a huge amount of work in that space. The need to consider matters on a case-by-case basis is fundamental to procurement, which must be relevant to the particular circumstances and proportionate. The legislative framework that we provide affords that.

I am keen that we continue to take a more co-ordinated approach through the work and actions that we are undertaking on community wealth building in order to support more suppliers to grow and develop, to be able to compete for and win contracts, and to increase the number of suppliers that are available. Graham Cook might want to say something about implementation.

That is an important point. In any time of challenging financial circumstances, that tension will always be present across a range of policy areas. It is important to reiterate the way in which procurement operates in Scotland. As the committee is aware and has heard from other witnesses, the decisions that we took for the 2015 regulations state that contracts will not be awarded solely on the basis of lowest cost. The ratio of price to quality comes down to decisions that are taken on a case-by-case basis.

I recognise the challenging financial circumstances that we are in and the concern that that raises. The way in which procurement operates in Scotland and the obligations around regulated procurement are such that there needs to be a balanced approach to decision making.

On monitoring, the requirements on public bodies that are operating above the threshold to publish strategies and report are important. That gives a direct answer to how we can monitor things.

The process of continued engagement that I have previously spoken about, as well as our work on constantly updating our guidance, gives us a means of responding to any issues that develop. However, we will continue to monitor the particular dynamics within the system as reports are published and through our on-going engagement with, for example, heads of procurement. Given the financial context that we are operating in, things are challenging, and we have been under huge pressure, so we will continue to monitor that.

On the point about our ability to understand what is happening, I refer back to the reporting requirements under the existing legislation.

A huge amount of collaboration and activity goes on. To pick up on the first point about human resources and ensuring that we have the people in place, we have a strong and powerful story to tell about the work that the Scottish Government has undertaken. I will ask Nikki Archer to provide information on that.

We provide a lot of support. I recognise the fundamental point that you are driving at. We want a system in which we pay a fair price for a good product, not one in which we do not pay a good price for a fair product. That must be at the heart of what we are doing around procurement.

I ask Graeme Cook to talk about some of our work on engagement and providing support.

I cannot confirm a timescale at the moment, because we are still at an early stage. However, I would be more than happy to update the committee on that work in due course, at which point I could respond to any further questions that the committee might have. I appreciate that that is a strong point of interest, and that the issue has been raised by witnesses.

That touches again on the distinction between what we have in legislation and the questions around consistency or variation in implementation. What we have in legislation is very strong and, as I have touched on before, it is supported by a comprehensive package of guidance, toolkits and engagement. A lot of positive work is being undertaken in procurement per se.

Touching on the community wealth building point, which I know you have a strong interest in, a more coherent and joined-up approach across different pillars of economic development will afford us opportunities to go further than we have. With regard to what we have at the moment, and as reflected in the independent report that was published recently on the sustainable procurement journey that we have been on over the past two decades, we have a very strong story to tell and we have made significant progress.

Would Nikki Archer like to add something on the policy aspect and some of the successes that have come from that?