We procure a range of goods, works and services from suppliers to deliver our business activities.
We deliver our procurement activities in a way that aligns with Scotland’s public procurement strategy. This sets out Scottish Government’s vision of “Putting public procurement at the heart of a sustainable economy to maximise value for the people of Scotland”. This has outcomes of buying in a way which is:
- good for business and employees
- good for society
- good for places and communities
- open and connected
We aim to drive up standards in the way we procure to ensure that we
- spend tax-payers money as wisely as possible
- deliver value for money and sustainable and inclusive economic growth
Our procurement policies reflect:
Our goods, services and works are acquired through competition, wherever possible. This is governed by internal procurement policy, guidance and best practice and ensuring all relevant legal requirements and ethical standards are met.
You can view our:
These documents and previous reports are also available in the documents section of our Buyers page on Public Contracts Scotland.
Doing Business with Us
We advertise our contract opportunities as they arise on the Public Contracts Scotland website. You can express an interest in these opportunities by registering as a supplier on the site.
Our Buyer profile can be found by searching for ‘National Records of Scotland’ in the ‘Search for Buyers’ section. This includes our contract opportunities.
Our Public Contracts Register is on the Register of Regulated contracts page of the Public Contracts Scotland website.
Where possible we seek out opportunities to work with other Government organisations to establish collaborative contracts to achieve efficiencies. For certain requirements we also use collaborative framework contracts let by Scottish Government, which can be found on the Scottish Government website, amongst other such as Scotland Excel and Crown Commercial Services.
Please note that we do not maintain a list of approved or preferred suppliers.
Guidance
Guidance for Suppliers on selling to the wider public sector can be found on Scottish Government’s Supplier’s Journey website. This explains the process of bidding for public sector goods, works and services.
We aim to ensure that our specifications clearly communicate our requirements. Our Invitations to Tender will always include the specification; procedures for submitting a tender; details of information which must be provided by bidders; how tenders will be evaluated; and any security clearance requirements. We actively encourage bidders to check that they understand the requirement(s) and clarify any issues with us prior to submitting a tender, in accordance with tendering instructions.
We require Disclosure Scotland checks for suppliers working in our buildings as part of the requirements of their contract. Where these checks are required, they will be specified in the Invitation to Tender, or the Request for a Quote, documentation. Details of Disclosure Scotland checks can be found on the Disclosure Scotland website.
Terms and Conditions
We use standard terms and conditions of contract for all straightforward purchases and contracts. These are aligned with the Scottish Government standard terms and conditions. We’ll revise our standard terms and conditions of contract in line with any new legislation and best practice. Please refer to the most up to date Scottish Government sets – we aim to minimise adjustments to these.
Sustainable Procurement
Sustainable Procurement is the extended process of:
- integrating environmental, governance, and social factors into procurement decisions
- ensuring they still meet stakeholder requirements
It aims to achieve value for money while generating benefits for:
- the organisation
- society
- the economy
- the environment
At NRS, we recognise the urgent need to prioritise the global climate emergency by considering and embedding climate and the circular economy during the planning and implementation of our procurement activities. We’ll use the Sustainable Procurement Duty as an enabler to support this.
We will:
- make a positive contribution to reduce emissions, capture carbon and or adapt to change
- drive the various social and economic aspects of sustainable procurement into our culture and procurement delivery.
We are committed to achieving this and demonstrating how it is achieved.
Adopting sustainable procurement processes enables us to meet our needs for goods, works and services in a way that achieves value for money on a whole life basis. This generates benefits for us, communities and the economy, whilst minimising damage to the environment.
We are particularly keen to work with our supply chain partners to maximise environmental data capture and integration of environmentally responsible principles. This includes careful consideration of:
- product design
- materials sourcing
- manufacturing process
- logistics
- end-of-life product management
Our objective is ‘greening’ the supply chain through:
- minimising waste and pollution
- conserving precious resources
- reducing the carbon footprint of goods, works and services
Green supply chain management (GSCM) involves sustainable environmental processes built into conventional supply chains, incorporating the principles of reduce, reuse, recycle, reclaim and degradable. Working with our supply chain partners and through application of these principles, we aim to support and deliver more sustainable outcomes.
Modern Slavery Statement
This statement summarises the actions and activities we carried out to better understand the potential risks of modern slavery and human trafficking. It also details the systems and controls we have introduced to mitigate those risks.
You can view our Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement.
