Pricing Public Sector Work in the Devolved Nations

‍‌​​​​​​​​‌​​​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‍# Pricing public sector work in the devolved nations

This guide explains how public-sector work in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland plays by different rules to England, different laws, portals, and "extras" like community benefits and social value. If you've only ever priced council or NHS jobs in England, this will stop you walking blind into devolved-nation paperwork.

Quick rule of thumb: England tends to ask "can you do the job for a fair price?", while Wales, Scotland and NI ask "can you do the job and prove you'll help our communities, workers and environment?": if you don't spell that out, you won't score well.

1. What actually changes

Public procurement is now largely devolved, Wales, Scotland and NI each have their own Acts, policies and portals, even though the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and now the Procurement Act 2023 still sit in the background.

• Wales pushes hard on social partnership and well-being, and expects social value built into every relevant contract.
• Scotland leans on community benefits and Fair Work in public contracts.
• Northern Ireland uses eTendersNI and its own regulations, with a strong focus on EU-style rules and value for money.

You don't usually need to be based there to bid, but you do have to play by their rules, including showing local benefits, fair work practices, and sometimes answering questions that never come up in an English tender.

Tip for new starters Think of Wales, Scotland and NI as three different "clients with house rules", you can bid from England, but you must learn and follow their house rules or you'll score badly on quality.

2. Wales, Sell2Wales, social partnership and well-being

Laws and duties

Wales has gone furthest in hard-wiring social value into law:

• The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 makes socially responsible procurement a legal duty · contracting authorities must seek to improve economic, social, environmental and cultural well-being through procurement, not just get the cheapest price.
• The duty sits alongside the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, which already forces public bodies to think long-term, work with communities and focus on seven well-being goals (prosperous Wales, resilient Wales, more equal Wales, etc.).

Guidance says public bodies must:

• Set and publish socially responsible procurement objectives.
• Link procurement to well-being goals.
• Use procurement as a lever for better jobs, fair work and greener outcomes.

For you, that means every decent-sized tender asks: "How will you support our well-being goals / social value objectives?"

Sell2Wales and frameworks

Sell2Wales is the main portal you'll use to find and bid for work:

• Welsh Government describes it as the hub for SMEs to find public-sector tenders.
• Big construction frameworks (for example, all-Wales construction frameworks, NHS construction frameworks) show up there, often flagged as "devolved regulations: Wales".

Framework basics (Wales):

• A framework is a shortlist of approved contractors. Once you're on, you compete for call-off jobs without re-prequalifying each time.
• Community benefits and well-being questions appear both at framework award stage and on major call-offs · things like apprenticeships, local spend, low-carbon methods.
• Thresholds: above UK procurement thresholds, full rules apply. Below thresholds, Wales still expects socially responsible procurement under the 2023 Act, but procedures can be lighter.

You don't have to be a Welsh company to register on Sell2Wales or bid, but you must show you can deliver in Wales, comply with Welsh Language and well-being requirements, and work with local supply chains.

Tip for new starters When bidding in Wales, treat the "socially responsible procurement" and "well-being" questions as core, give concrete numbers (apprentices, local hires, carbon cuts), not waffle, or you'll lose on quality.

3. Scotland, community benefits, Fair Work and Public Contracts Scotland

Laws and duties

Scotland's main law is the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, backed up by statutory guidance. It sits alongside Scottish regulations and, for some procurements, parts of the UK-wide rules.

Key features:

• Community benefit requirements: there's a presumption that contracts and frameworks over £4m should include community benefits, and authorities must at least consider them in all regulated procurements.
• Community benefits are defined as contractual requirements around training, recruitment, sub-contracting opportunities, or other steps that improve economic, social or environmental wellbeing beyond the main purpose of the contract.
• Authorities must ensure requirements are robust, relevant and measurable, and they must monitor delivery.

On top of that, Scotland has Fair Work guidance:

• Statutory guidance under the 2014 Act encourages public bodies to consider Fair Work practices (for example, fair pay, effective voice, security, respect, opportunity) in evaluating bids for relevant contracts.
• Bidders can be asked about things like paying the Real Living Wage, use of zero-hours contracts, trade union engagement, and workforce development.

Public Contracts Scotland and frameworks

Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) is the central portal:

• All Scottish public bodies should advertise regulated contracts and frameworks there.
• PCS is where you find construction frameworks, term maintenance contracts and consultant frameworks.

Framework basics (Scotland):

• Frameworks are first-stage competitions to get you onto an approved list for a region or work type.
• Scottish Government has been introducing mechanisms like the Graduated Pricing Mechanism to judge price bids fairly, not just race to the bottom.
• Once on a framework, work is called off by mini-competitions or direct awards, depending on the setup · you still need to respond to tenders, but with much lighter qualification.

English firms can bid for Scottish work. You'll need to show capacity and resilience to deliver in Scotland, comply with local building standards, and meet community benefit and Fair Work expectations.

Tip for new starters In Scotland, assume every medium-to-large construction tender will ask about community benefits and Fair Work, have a standard offer on apprentices, local jobs and fair contracts ready to drop in.

4. Northern Ireland, eTendersNI and EU-style rules

NI public procurement is a transferred matter, but historically it has stuck close to EU-style rules and the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, adapted for NI.

eTendersNI

eTendersNI is the main portal for NI central government and many other public bodies:

• All procurement documents are freely available via the eTendersNI platform.
• You register once, then use it for all NI-wide opportunities, including construction frameworks and local authority work.

NI public procurement rules:

• Still heavily based on transparency, equal treatment and competitive tendering, similar to pre-Brexit EU rules.
• NI is covered by parts of the Procurement Act 2023 for "transferred" authorities, but devolved NI authorities also apply their own regulations.

Frameworks in NI:

• Work like frameworks in the other nations: you compete once to get onto a list, then bid for call-offs.
• There's usually less formalised talk of "community benefits" than in Wales or Scotland, but social value and SME participation still appear, especially post-Windsor Framework.

English firms can register on eTendersNI and bid. You must understand NI-specific rules (NI building regs, HSENI, NI contract law) and show how you'll support local employment and the economy.

Tip for new starters Treat eTendersNI like any other portal, but remember you're in NI law territory on standards and safety, even if you're a GB company.

5. Framework agreements, what they look for and thresholds

Across all three nations, frameworks are the main way to win repeat public-sector work. The basics are similar: a framework is a multi-year agreement where a public body appoints a panel of contractors for particular work types or regions. As an SME, once you're on, you answer smaller "mini-tenders" instead of full fat tenders every time.

You don't usually need to be locally incorporated, a limited company in England can bid, but for bigger frameworks, a limited company and solid accounts are almost essential.

Tip for new starters Before chasing frameworks, pick one nation and one sector (for example, housing repairs in Wales) and learn those rules first. Don't try to crack three procurement systems at once.

What to do next

• Pick one devolved nation you're likely to work in first (Wales, Scotland or NI) and register on its portal · Sell2Wales, Public Contracts Scotland or eTendersNI · then spend an evening just reading a few recent construction tenders.
• Write a simple "social value and community benefits" boilerplate for your business: apprenticeships, local spend, sustainability steps · so you're not starting from scratch each time.
• If you're serious about frameworks, talk to your accountant about going limited (if you're not already) and get your last three years' accounts, insurances and policies tidy · devolved buyers are picky on basics.
• Once you've got comfortable bidding in one nation, then look at how your offer needs tweaking for the other two (for example, more well-being language in Wales, more Fair Work detail in Scotland).

Sources

• Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 · legislation.gov.uk/asc/2023/1/contents · socially responsible procurement duty (section 24).
• Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 · legislation.gov.uk/anaw/2015/2/contents · seven well-being goals influencing procurement.
• Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 · legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/12/contents · regulated procurements, sustainable procurement duty, community benefit requirements.
• Fair Work Practices guidance (Scotland) · statutory guidance under the 2014 Act on considering fair pay and conditions in public contracts.
• Public Contracts Regulations 2015 · legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/102/contents · underpin many procurements in Wales and NI.
• Procurement Act 2023 · legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents · new UK-wide framework; Cabinet Office guidance on devolved application.
• Sell2Wales, Public Contracts Scotland and eTendersNI · contract notices and framework descriptions.

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