2022/2023 round up blog & Scottish Government’s Participation Framework Agreement

Hi everyone,

A few updates from the Open Government team at Scottish Government that we think will be of interest to network members!

2022/23 blog

2023 was a busy and important year for Open Government in Scotland. At the end of last year we blogged about Scotland’s Open Government Action Plan’s progress to date and reflected on some key events over that year. If you haven’t already, you can read this over on the Open Government blog and let us know what you think!

Participation Framework Agreement

Network members may have seen that Scottish Government has announced its intention to develop a Participation Framework Agreement.

The Participation Framework Agreement is to support Scottish Government to establish a co-ordinated approach to commissioning participatory work with adults – particularly those identified as being seldom heard and furthest from decision making. This follows the Children and Young People Participation Framework Agreement that was developed in 2023.

Suppliers appointed to the Participation Framework will be assessed as having the skills and expertise to design and deliver high quality and inclusive engagements with a wide range of people and communities.

Find out more

We developed a short animation to help explain the aims for this Framework Agreement and how suppliers can register their interest.

We have also written a blog that expands on the animation, and includes some key background information on why we are developing the Framework.

Help us share this opportunity!

If you know of any organisations or suppliers that work in the participation sector and could be interested in this opportunity please share this link to the Prior Information Notice on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS).

Registering interest means suppliers can receive automatic updates related to deadlines and engagement opportunities. A survey is currently available when suppliers register interest – this is open until 7 February 2024. Feedback from this will help us to develop our approach and further engagement with the market on the Framework Agreement and specification.

We would like to ensure organisations that aren’t currently registered with Public Contracts Scotland have access to this new opportunity. To assist new suppliers to register to PCS, the Supplier Development Programme offers expert training, support and information to Scottish SMEs and third sector organisations interested in working with the public sector.