The Scottish Government see supported businesses and factories as having a valuable role in assisting people with disabilities to integrate into the labour market and in helping to improve their overall independence and wellbeing. Since September 2009 BASE Scotland has engaged with senior members of the Scottish Government and the Public Sector Procurement Centres of Expertise.

One of the outcomes of this process was the creation of the Supported Business Scotland brochure in July 2010. Over 2000 copies of this brochure have now been issued and an electronic copy of the brochure can be located here.

Recent steps by the Scottish Government to level the playing field for social enterprises and supported businesses to secure public sector contracts were introduced at the end of 2010. Through Public Contracts Scotland (PCS), buyers are able to reserve contracts to supported businesses when publishing a notice under Article 19, an element of a 2004 European Union directive. This step however does not give supported businesses an automatic right to contracts – they must provide a strong value-for-money bid to secure the business, usually in competition with other supported businesses.

The encouraging news for the supported businesses is that as a result of the hard work between BASE and the Scottish Government, between October and December 2010, three reserved contracts were advertised and awarded to supported businesses.