# Awarding Public Contracts Skilfully and Lawfully within the Scottish Procurement Rules

> Court-Proven, Solution-Focused Answers to 7 Thorny Questions: Directly from Top-Flight Policy Makers, Lawyers and Industry Experts

- Format: In-person
- Date: Wednesday, 4 October 2023, 10:00AM to 4:00PM (registration from 9:30AM)
- Venue: The King Khalid Building, Surgeons Quarter, Hill Square, Edinburgh, EH8 9DR
- 5 hours CPD
- Rates: Live Attendance £299.00 + VAT per person
- Status: This conference has taken place
- Book: https://whitepaper.co.uk/conferences/procscotland23

## Programme

- 09:30 Registration and coffee
- 10:00 Chair's Introduction: Awarding public contracts skilfully and lawfully within the procurement rules
  - Answered by Billy Hislop, Head of Procurement at VisitScotland
- Panellist: Robin Fallas, of MacRoberts
- 10:10 Evaluation: Where is the wriggle room for evaluators to shift their initial views during moderation or in response to clarifications and presentations while upholding tender process integrity?
  - Answered by Graeme Palmer, Burness Paull
- 10:50 Variations: What practical steps can you take to de-risk contracts or frameworks that reach or exceed their thresholds, and you are faced with an unwanted variation?
  - Answered by Euan Murray, Shepherd & Wedderburn
- 11:30 Morning coffee
- 11:50 Green and Net Zero: How do you incorporate and evaluate Green Procurement and Net Zero objectives in tenders - and ensure that bidders fulfil their commitments?
  - Answered by Charles Livingstone, Brodies
- 12:30 PME: When engaging in preliminary market engagement, how do you ensure equal treatment, avoid undue supplier influence, and encourage active participation from suppliers, including SMEs and social enterprises?
  - Answered by Suzanne Hardie, Morton Fraser
- 13:10 Lunch
- 13:50 Bunching: What inventive approaches can you employ to effectively control and overcome challenges like bunching, marginal score differentiation, tie-breaks, and head-off confrontations with dissatisfied bidders?
  - Answered by David Hansom, Clyde & Co
- 14:30 Inflation: How can new and innovative drafting strategies help you manage and mitigate inflation risks and supply chain disruption while addressing stakeholder concerns about going to market?
  - Answered by Graeme Young, CMS
- 15:10 Feedback: To minimise the risk of a challenge, what information should you divulge on the winning bid's relative advantages in your feedback, and what should you withhold, supported by caselaw and practical examples?
  - Answered by Elaine McLean, Pinsent Masons
- 15:50 Over-run
- 16:00 Close of conference

## How to book

Choose a rate on the [conference page](https://whitepaper.co.uk/conferences/procscotland23) and press Book Now. Checkout asks for the booking contact and company address, then each delegate's name and email, then payment: Credit/Debit Card, or Bank Transfer/Cheque to be sent an invoice. Bookings are subject to the [booking policy](https://whitepaper.co.uk/booking-policy).