Agenda

Alastair Merrill

Director of Procurement,
Scottish Government

Alastair is the Director of Procurement in the Scottish Government, a post he has held since summer 2009. He is responsible for delivering greater efficiency and value for money in public sector procurement in Scotland. 

Alastair joined the then Scottish Executive in 2001, where he set up the first integrated analytical services division in the Education Department, which brought together statisticians, economists and social researchers to deliver evidence-based policy making. He moved in 2003 to the Office of the Permanent Secretary to lead the Executive’s culture change programme, Changing to Deliver, and reform corporate performance management. 

As Deputy Director for Police from 2005-2008, Alastair was closely involved in the development of the Scottish Policing Performance Framework, the re-launch of the ACPOS People Strategy, and advising Ministers on policy. In 2008 he moved on promotion to the Scottish Prison Service as Director of Corporate Services, responsible for corporate strategy and governance, legal policy and information management.  

Alastair joined the civil service fast stream in 1986. He served in a variety of posts in the MOD and the Foreign Office, including secondments to NATO, Price Waterhouse Corporate Finance and the UN peacekeeping force in the former Yugoslavia. In 1996 Alastair left the UK civil service to work as a private secretary to NATO’s Secretary General in Brussels, a post he held until 2001.