This handbook provides guidance on the rules and policies that apply to the procurement activities of public bodies in Scotland and highlights some key legal obligations.

Public bodies should regularly assess their procurement capability to continuously improve the procurement and commercial skills of their staff. People involved in awarding and managing contracts should have the right level of professional skills, knowledge, qualifications or experience.

This means seeing learning and development as an investment and tailoring it to individual and organisational needs. Doing so can increase the strategic impact of procurement spending decisions while keeping them legally compliant and delivering VfM.

This can be achieved through training courses, coaching, mentoring, peer-to-peer learning, job-shadowing and other forms of continuous professional development.