Despite increased pressure on budgets, councils in Scotland are still failing to get value for money from their £5.3bn a year procurement spend on goods and services, according to a spending watchdog.
A report by the Accounts Commission said there had been improvement across local government with savings of £71m achieved last year.
But they could generate far greater efficiencies by channeling more spending through Scottish Excel, a body which enables councils to buy combine their spending power to buy collaboratively.
Use of collaborative contracts by councils in Scotland has risen by 80% over the last three years but still only represents less than 10% of local government procurement spend, it said.
The watchdog called on local authorities to make greater use of the Scottish Government Procurement Information Hub. Councils should improve the way they calculate the broader benefits of their spending, it said, and ensure procurement staff have the necessary skills to drive better value.
Accounts Commission chair Douglas Sinclair said: ‘Councils need to secure maximum value for the money they spend as budgets continue to tighten. Better use of procurement can improve quality and bring benefits to their local communities.
‘Some councils have done well by looking at all the options, investing in the right skills and systems and learning from each other. But there is scope to do a lot more and the pace of improvement needs to increase.’
