Track the business activity and commercial plans of Dumfries and Galloway Council — identify tender and future spending opportunities before they reach the market, follow cabinet and committee decisions, and understand the council’s priorities, with intelligence extracted from 604 analysed meetings. Dumfries and Galloway Council serves around 148,000 residents in southwest Scotland. The region stretches from the Solway coast to the Southern Uplands, including Dumfries, Stranraer and Castle Douglas, with an economy based on agriculture, forestry and tourism.
Meetings analysed604
Procurement opportunities747
Pressures tracked379
Estimated pipeline value£4.2bn–£5.1bn
Dumfries and Galloway Council Procurement Intelligence | QuorumInsight
Active procurement topics
Over the last 12 months, the most frequently discussed commercial topics in this council's meetings have been IT & Digital (67 mentions, easing), Professional Services (38 mentions, easing), Construction & Building Works (31 mentions, easing) and Democracy & Elections (23 mentions, easing).
Commercial signals extracted from recent Dumfries and Galloway Council meetings — approvals, budget decisions and early procurement discussions, before a tender is published.
The council approved internal listed-building works at 16 High Street, Annan to strengthen floor joists so a room can be used for archive storage with racking. Heritage consultees raised no objection, and the work was described as internal only with no impact on the building's appearance or historic interest. This is a small capital-style building maintenance/fit-out decision affecting records storage capacity.
“Speaker 7: Thank you, chair. You'll be pleased to know this is my last one. So this application is before you as the council is the applicant. So it's council offices in Allen and the alterations are internal to the floor joists only to allow a room which is just a general room a…”
The fund agreed a revised responsible investment belief statement broadening the focus beyond climate to wider ESG issues such as social and governance factors. Members raised concern about the wording on disinvestment, and officers agreed to clarify that disinvestment is not ruled out where necessary and appropriate.
“This revised statement goes further than the climate issues that are the focus of the current statement and the and focuses on wider responsible investments considerations such as social and governance. Whilst the scope of statement has been widened, it is very much takes cogniza…”
The committee considered seven grant applications to the Stranraer Common Good Fund and moved to a new award method: support applications that score at least 20, at 50% of the amount requested. This was agreed as a way to stretch a small free-income pot while still funding community activity. The decision also referenced potential loan terms for one applicant to be reported separately.
“Item six is applications for financial assistance from Sternar Common Good Fund. Um we're invited to consider seven applications for financial assistance in front of us and noting that the estimated remaining free income balance of 10,526 is available for dispersement in 2026 27…”
Members considered and approved the council's Procurement Strategy 2026-2028 under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. The discussion highlighted community wealth building, local economic growth, microbusiness participation, and the need to improve how the strategy translates into more local contract awards and better engagement with suppliers.
“This paper provides members with financial outturn across the council's capital investment strategy for for financial year 2025 to 2026. Karen Donaldson and Paul Garrett are here to assist if members have any questions. So, anything to add at this moment? No. Okay, I'll open it u…”
Members reviewed a draft cyber security policy for the pension fund, including assurances on outsourced systems, hosted platforms, supplier testing, member portal security, and council IT controls. The committee approved annual review by officers and return to committee only if there is a material change.
“This report provides members with the opportunity to review the cybersecurity policy that has been drafted for the fund. The policy aligns the fund's approach to cybersecurity and provides assurances of the arrangements in place for external suppliers to the fund.”
The council noted delivery of the local authority ECO4 Flex scheme for 2025-26, which provided over £3.2 million investment to improve privately owned homes. This is a significant retrofit spend, with the related ECO4 scheme ending on 2025-11-31 and replacement area-based funding allocated for 2026-27.
“One is to note the delivery of the local authority ECO Eco4 Flex scheme for twenty fivetwenty six has provided over £3,200,000 investment to improve the energy efficiency of privately owned homes, Section 4.2. Two, note that the Eco four will come to an end on 11/31/2025, Section…”
The meeting focused on approving a formal service level agreement between SWestrans and Dumfries and Galloway Council, including clarifying a mandatory annual operational review, the backdated effective date, and how the agreement interacts with operational staffing and bus operator contracts. Members queried the legal and operational implications before unanimously agreeing the SLA and authorising the lead officer to sign the final agreement.
The committee focused on two main procurement-related areas: replacing or repairing Stranraer Christmas lights and banner assets, and allocating Common Good funding across multiple local grant applications. Members discussed warranties, anchor points, structural checks, lead times, and possible community fundraising for the lights. They also agreed a revised grant-award approach of supporting eligible applications at 50% of requested amounts, with a score threshold, to stretch limited free income.
The committee spent most of the meeting on school management arrangements, especially shared headteacher models, recruitment pressures, consultation expectations, and the specific temporary/permanent arrangements affecting Gatehouse and Twynholm. Members also considered the education revenue budget, service plans, bursaries/travel grants, and statutory consultation processes for rural school and nursery options, with repeated concern about staffing vacancies, management capacity, and the impact on teaching, leadership and community sustainability.
The board mainly discussed transport service delivery, funding pressures, and governance matters. Key procurement-relevant topics included the delayed West Trans/Galloway council service level agreement, active travel and transport-to-employment programmes, bus network and subsidy management, capital projects for active travel hubs, and risk arising from potential restructuring of RTPs and rising bus operating costs. Several reports were noted or approved, with follow-up work requested on survey comparators, route sampling, and contract arrangements.
The meeting was dominated by governance reform and service-pressure items. Members considered an independent review of chief officer recruitment and departures, agreed a more member-led follow-up process, and discussed changes to leadership costs. Significant attention was also given to financial and service pressures in health and social care, children’s services, common good management, roads and bridges, tourism and hospitality, anti-poverty support, dentistry, and a motion on nuclear energy policy. Several reports indicated likely follow-on procurement, policy, and service review work, with consultation, lobbying, and future committee reports committed across multiple areas.
The committee dealt with a series of planning-led procurement and delivery issues: a major solar farm with battery storage and associated ecological, grid and construction conditions; a wind turbine repowering with a dispute over permission length; community-led housing using a novel glass-based building product and EV charging; a large holiday park proposal with infrastructure and drainage implications; and a retrospective listed building consent for active travel safety railings on Nith Bridge. A council-owned museum rooflight replacement was also approved. The meeting also noted significant officer handover changes, with senior planning and governance staff moving on.