Working with us
Ensuring Compliance
The suite of frameworks are fully compliant with Scottish, UK and EU Procurement Regulations.
As a public sector organisation, we share your commitment to achieving value for money whilst delivering efficiency and generating local economic impact. These values underpin the way we work and our strategic definition of a framework and how we conduct our procurement proicess. It is our objective to ensure that your project success criteria are assured, through a robust, rigorous and compliant processes.
Our experienced procurement team have answered some frequently asked questions below. We hope that we have covered all areas however, if you have another procurement question , we are on hand to answer them for you. Contact us and we'll respond as quickly as possible.
Ensuring compliance
The suite of frameworks available from SCAPE are fully compliant with Scottish, UK and EU Procurement Regulations and have never been subject to a legal challenge.
Q: Can I legally use your frameworks?
Yes. In compliance with the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations, public bodies which are able to access the suite of SCAPE frameworks, are clearly identifiable within our Contract Notices.
All public bodies across Scotland and the United Kingdom are either explicitly named, or clearly referenced. This includes the insertion of a web link that lists public bodies by sector, or by using a reference to a category of Contracting Authorities within a specific geographical area.
This means that public bodies across Scotland and the United Kingdom can be clearly identified, legally permitting them to use any SCAPE framework.
It is important however, to clarify that the resulting contracts are not speculative framework agreements. There is no legal requirement to consult or obtain consent when referencing Contracting Authorities in a Contract Notice.
Q: How do I use the frameworks?
The means to use a framework, also known as the 'Call off' process, is clearly defined within framework agreements and accompanying user guides.
These are made available to all clients once an Access Agreement has been completed, allowing you to use any of our frameworks.
Q: How is the value of a framework calculated?
In Contract Notices and procurement documentation, we set out a value of a framework that is based upon empirical market analysis.
The overall value of a new framework is constructed using a variety of intelligence sources, including but not limited to, government project and infrastructure pipeline data, a review of client informed pipelines, historical framework performance, and other reputable secondary sources as appropriate.
Q: Are you legally permitted to operate frameworks?
Yes. SCAPE is wholly owned by six Local Authorities and was formed under the Local Government Act 2003. It is a Contracting Authority and Central Purchasing Body in its own right.
With procurement expertise, which has generated a range of compliant frameworks since 2006, SCAPE has never been the subject of a legal challenge.
Any project audits which have been conducted by external funding agencies or individual clients’ internal auditors, have all been satisfactorily concluded and all SCAPE frameworks have been accepted as a procurement route which is fully legally compliant.
Q: How do you ensure that your frameworks perform to a high standard?
All SCAPE frameworks are fully performance managed by a team of dedicated and knowledgeable framework managers to ensure the highest delivery standards and to maximise socioeconomic impact in the local community.
Their role is to ensure that your delivery team of highly reputable contractors and consultants, supported by an extensive local supply chain, consistently deliver the highest levels of project performance across a range of key performance indicators.
This standard of delivery has consistently surpassed national averages, as indicated in the Glenigan UK Industry Performance Report.
Q: Can the frameworks be used for projects funded by European grants?
Yes. SCAPE procurement processes takes account of the requirements of the European Structural Investment Fund (ESIF) comprising the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the European Social Fund in England (ESF) and the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE). Framework delivery partners are required to comply with the funding requirements of the European Structural Investment Fund (ESIF) and associated regulations such as procurement, publicity, eligibility criteria.
Q: How do your frameworks support the localism agenda?
SCAPE’s Responsible Procurement model brings local investment, in addition to achieving industry leading levels of quality, value for money and social value.
The suite of SCAPE frameworks are designed to deliver local benefits and from 2013 – October 2019, have facilitated more than £416m of community benefits across Scotland.
The National Construction framework in particular requires 85% of sub-contract spend to be directed towards SMEs, with all SME partners to be paid within 19 days. Across all of our frameworks, SME’s were utilised on 88% of projects in Scotland.
Delivery partners are also encouraged to support the development of the next generation of the labour force through apprenticeships, work experience, training schemes, school engagements and educational visits. Through these activities, SCAPE projects have introduced over 336,000 young people to the construction sector.
(Statistics collated from 896 ‘in progress’ and ‘completed’ projects from 2013 – October 2019. Compiled by SCAPE’s performance team and verified by the Social Value Portal).
