Public bodies should establish 'sustainability tests' to ensure contracts are socially, economically and environmentally sound, according to new guidelines.

The Scottish Government's Sustainable Procurement Action Plan, published today, contains 10 steps for public bodies to embed sustainability in the buying of goods and services.

The Action Plan seeks to ensure that, for instance, environmental aspects such as whole life costs are taken into account.

Speaking at the National Procurement Conference, held during the two-day Procurex event in Glasgow, Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "Sustainable procurement is good procurement - doing more for less. With spending on goods and services of around eight billion pounds per year, and the pressing need to build sustainability into Scotland's economy, the lead public procurement can take is vital.

"This Action Plan sets out a consistent template for public bodies to follow and seeks to ensure that buying decisions will be informed by proper consideration of all the social, economic and environmental impacts - and benefits - relevant to the goods or services being purchased.

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"Adopting the Action Plan will help every public body contribute to the shared agenda of tackling climate change, building a sustainable Scotland and getting best value for the public purse."

In another move, the Finance Secretary confirmed that the Scottish Government has changed its terms and conditions for goods and services to require subcontractor invoices to be paid within 30 days of submitting a valid invoice, delivering prompt payment throughout supply chains. Mr Swinney continued: "Companies of all sizes face challenges as a result of recession and they rightly expect prompt payment from Government. The Scottish Government is leading by example with 95 per cent of invoices paid within 10 days.

The change we have now made means that sub-contractors providing goods and services to the Scottish Government should be paid within 30 days. I want all public organisations to ensure that contractors and subcontractors are paid promptly and I encourage every organisation to follow the Scottish Government's example by adopting these contract clauses."

In another move to reform procurement, the Scottish Government will introduce a national database of supplier information in 2010 allowing suppliers to enter their data once in a single place. This will cut inefficiencies and ensure greater standardisation as businesses are often asked to repeatedly complete documentation relating to their capacity and capability as part of the procurement process.

(GK/Bmcc)