Scotland
How does it work currently in Scotland?
We have singled out Scotland’s local authorities for a special report because they operate differently to local authorities elsewhere in the UK from a purchasing perspective. The main difference is that, while Local Authorities can have their own local and autonomous procurement contracts in place, they also benefit from sharing resources and consolidating volume through a national centre of procurement expertise, called Scotland Excel, which manages tenders and contracts with suppliers for the whole of Scotland. The Scottish Government also enforces more stringent nutritional standards with yet tighter regulation coming into effect in April.
What are the challenges?
The stringent nutritional requirements have required local authorities to work with suppliers to reformulate products according to their nutritional needs and this can make it more challenging for local suppliers to participate.
There can be a negative perception of public procurement. Suppliers tend to think that processes are very clunky, documentation is significant, and price is the bottom line. This can dissuade them from applying to tenders.
The nature of Scotland’s more remote regions and islands can limit the choice of suppliers from a distribution perspective. Some smaller, local suppliers could be unable to deliver to more than one school in a Scottish region because they may be separated by five hours’ drive. On the flip side this can work in favour of local suppliers, who often become by far the most cost-effective and viable option, especially on islands. On the Isle of Bute, for example, a local farmer produces milk, meat and cheese for the island’s three schools and one care home.
There is a general lack of data and measurement. Establishing true provenance is often difficult as most wholesalers don’t distinguish origin with separate product codes or display the information on invoices or labels.
What has worked well?
Food For Life Served Here (FFLSH)
Half of the 32 local authorities in Scotland hold the FFLSH award at varying levels from Bronze through to Gold, and for early years, primary and secondary settings. By doing so, they benefit from the added value support, provided by the Food for Life Scotland team. This support means that, they can offer free (and confidential) analysis of local authority purchasing data highlighting cost-effective opportunities for local sourcing.
This makes it much easier for local authorities to know where to start. FFLSH also celebrate successes through public case studies. In two of these, West Lothian and City of Edinburgh Councils, both stated they were able to achieve their FFLSH Bronze award at no extra cost. East Ayrshire Council is even celebrating their twelth year of holding the FFLSH Gold award.
According to Sarah Duley, Head of Food at Soil Association Scotland, “Local Authority staff have many demands on their time, they aren’t just dealing with food purchasing. Food for Life Scotland’s approach is to offer bespoke support across supply chain and menu development, connecting the two and, where possible, identifying actions via data analysis. Contracts are typically set up for 3-4 years so it can take time to shift towards more local suppliers, but we can help local authorities work within the parameters of existing tenders and contracts and get the conversation started. We’ve found that exciting things can happen by simply bringing the right people together.”
Meet the Buyer events
Last year FFLSH ran a virtual event to generate enthusiasm among suppliers for applying to public sector contracts. At this event both Argyll & Bute (Jayne Jones) and East Lothian (Lorraine Faulds) highlighted the strong partnerships they have built with local suppliers and asked their suppliers to present the benefits they had seen from working with the councils.
JM Breckenridge, suppliers of quality fresh produce to the West of Scotland & the Highlands and Islands, tendered originally just for Oban, but have benefited from a 50% growth in public sector business in five years through expanding to further regions. They listed guaranteed payment, set sales volumes, enhanced customer blend and a strong presence in the community as additional benefits of working with local authorities. The enhanced customer blend meant they had a more diverse and resilient customer base during the pandemic and their strong local presence has grown private sector business as well. Both JM Breckenridge and Campbeltown Creamery benefited from Argyll & Bute’s request for JM Breckenridge to distribute the Campbeltown cheese to their schools.
Impressively, East Lothian’s supplier George Anderson quoted the origin data on produce purchased by the council over the last year: 56% was UK produce and 45% was Scottish.
Distribution hubs
Dumfries & Galloway set up its own distribution hub and naturally D&G brand to facilitate local sourcing. According to Alan Mawson, Facilities Manager at Dumfries & Galloway, “seven years ago we started to look at local produce and worked closely with our procurement service to focus on local criteria by specifying that we needed 24 hour delivery for fresh produce. As a result, we source bakery, cheese, yoghurt and eggs all from within Dumfries and Galloway. Our meat comes from across the border in Carlisle, but is only 32 miles from the depot. Our distribution hub has had a major impact for our smaller suppliers, like Auchtralure Eggs, who otherwise wouldn’t have the resources to deliver to 116 schools. They can drop off once at our hub, where their eggs are combined with other supplies so that schools only receive 4-5 deliveries/week. This has led to a dramatic reduction in carbon emissions through food miles.
It costs around £150k/year to run for £2m spend on food. This includes staff and vehicles, and takes into account the annual rebate from our national contract with Brakes based on only delivering into one hub. The hub also acts as an emergency stock-hold for feeding the community during pandemics or winter weather. Some of our suppliers come from some of our most deprived areas. We’ve found that local sourcing has really raised our profile in the community. Parents at parents’ evenings love to see we are working with local suppliers and supporting the local economy and community.”
Brakes sourcing from SMEs with SALSA (a food safety accreditation proportionate and appropriate to smaller businesses)
Brakes works directly with local suppliers to broaden the product range they can offer while also meeting regulatory requirements. Chris Boyle, Scotland Public Sector Head at Brakes, explains: “while some suppliers fail our audit, it’s important we maintain a strict standard of food safety and quality. We recognise that the BRC accreditation is complex for smaller suppliers and therefore in Scotland we allow SALSA accredited suppliers. We have also been working with local suppliers to adjust for the new nutritional regulations coming in April. This has been challenging to say the least from a timing perspective; the delay from last summer after an initial Scottish Government objection has meant focusing on being ready for new regulations has coincided with a time when we’re still battling the pandemic, not to mention the challenges we still face as a result of leaving the European Union. We have found many suppliers are still making use of the furlough scheme so new product development has not been a priority. They are more focused on ensuring they can stay in business.
Brakes will continue to look at options to use local suppliers where possible and review alternative options, including those that may not have been considered before the pandemic.”
Flexible frameworks
Scotland Excel manage framework agreements for 32 local authorities. Their frameworks are innovative in that many of them offer three different options for suppliers to bid for tenders: supply only, supply and distribution, distribution only. This enables suppliers unable to distribute their products to apply and be matched with suppliers who can. Sam Whitehead, Senior Procurement Specialist at Scotland Excel adds, “We don’t penalise suppliers if they can’t supply a whole area. One fish supplier in Aberdeen has done really well through this process. By themselves they could only distribute to the Aberdeen region, but working with a distributor they now cover half our total supply.”
Key recommendations
- Learn from Dumfries & Galloway’s example to make use of suitable council property to create and manage local distribution hubs.
- Promote the work of Supplier Development Programme Scotland and run more meet the buyer events to enthuse suppliers about working with public sector.
- Work with FFLSH to analyse the existing supply chain for local food opportunities, and benchmark, measure and celebrate success.
- Expand the flexible frameworks at Scotland Excel to cover more tenders.
- Regulate on providing origin data.
- Explore creating school farms along the line of prison farms.
- Provide nutritional and sustainability information to students using digital menus similar to those used by prisons.
- A few areas may need to review the kitchens in schools to ensure they are fully equipped for preparing fresh produce.