Public Procurement in the UK: The Basic Principles

8 basic principles of public procurement UK

If you’ve seen the phrase ‘public procurement in the UK’ pop up a few times, you’re probably wondering what it means. That’s why we have put this blog together to tell you all about the common principles of public procurement in the UK.

What is meant by public procurement in the UK?

The term is pretty simple to understand. It is the buying of goods and services by government organisations.

What are the basic principles of public procurement in the UK?

The principles govern the management of public procurement in the UK and set the framework for a code of conduct. The eight core principles are:

1. Transparency

Information on the public procurement process must be made available to all public procurement stakeholders:

• Contractors
• Suppliers
• Service providers
• Public – unless there are legal reasons for keeping the information confidential.

When a public procurement requirement is announced, it must include sufficient details for interested contractors, suppliers and service providers. These will determine if they are qualified to compete. The solicitation documents must be available at a reasonable price.

2. Integrity

Integrity is essentially reliability. The integrity of the procurement process assures confidence in the public procurement system. When tender documents are made publicly available, the information contained must be dependable and free of ambiguities or bias.

Public servants involved in public procurement in the UK must be honest, trustworthy, responsible and reliable.

3. Economy

The principle of economy emphasises the need to manage public funds with care and due diligence. Prices paid for goods and services should be acceptable and of good value.

4. Openness

Public procurement in the UK requirements should be open to all eligible organisations and individuals.

Confidential information belonging to organisations and individuals participating in the process should not be available to the public.

5. Fairness

There are 4 ways to achieve fairness in the public procurement in the UK process:

• Decision making and actions must be unbiased. No preferential treatment should be given to individuals or organisations.
• All offers must be considered on the basis of their compliance with the stipulations of the solicitation documents.
• A contract should only be signed with the supplier, contractor or service provider whose offer is compliant.
• Suppliers have the right to challenge the procurement process if they believe they have been treated unfairly. Public bodies should not impose unnecessary burdens or constraints on suppliers or potential suppliers.

6. Accountability

Anyone involved in the procurement process is responsible for their actions and decisions. You have an obligation to report/answer to a designated oversight entity, and the public, on the consequences of your actions.

7. Efficiency

The procurement process should be carried out as cost effectively as possible.

8. Responsiveness

Public bodies should aim to meet the goals, expectations and needs of the community served by the procurement.

Need help searching for tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find public sector contracts for your business. There’s no shortage of websites offering multi-sector tendering opportunities and leads. Ideally, you should be searching for a sector-specific site that posts all unique, public and private sector opportunities

At Hudson Discover, we house 11 sector-specific tendering portals.  One centralised and easy-to-navigate portal can help you save time, streamlining the process.

These consist of:

• Creative Tenders
• Healthcare Tenders
• Facilities Tenders
• Construction Tenders
• Technology Tenders
• Logistics Tenders
• Research Tenders
• Consultancy Tenders
• HR Tenders
• Finance Tenders
• Hospitality Tenders

Once signed up, you’ll have access to your own dedicated Account Manager. They’ll be able to answer any questions you may have about public sector contracts. You’ll also get an email alert when new and relevant tenders are uploaded to your sector.

A subscription to one of our industry-specific portals will include:

• Unlimited portal access. You can browse your industry’s portal to your heart’s content. See the hundreds of opportunities that are available, intuitively categorised and easily accessible.
• A daily email bulletin. When you sign up to a portal, you can choose the specific areas in which you’d like to tender. Then, a daily bulletin is created for you. It includes all the relevant opportunities that have been posted to the portal that day, straight to your inbox.
• A dedicated Account Manager. They’ll handle any questions or queries you may have about the portal.
• A free 20-minutes phone consultation with a Bid Writer. Our expert bid consultants will chat with you for 20-minutes about anything tender related.

What opportunities can I expect from a tender search on one of the above portals?

We host all kinds of tenders in both the public and private sectors. These are inclusive of, but aren’t limited to:

• Open tenders
• Restricted procedure tenders
• Competitive dialogues
• Negotiated tendering procedures
• Innovation partnerships
• Single supplier contracts
• Framework agreements
• Dynamic Purchasing Systems

Now you know how to accurately perform a tender search, you may be wondering how to write a bid. Well, luckily for you, our sister company,Hudson Succeed, are experts in bid writing.

They have over 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Whether you’re completely new to tendering or aren’t seeing results – they can help. There are fourbid writing packages available:

• Tender Writing

Once you’ve found a tender you’d like to go for,send it over to us. One of our Bid Writers will write the tender response for you. They’ll provide a full Tender Writing breakdown and even submit it on your behalf.

• Tender Mentor

Tender Mentor can give your tender response a once over before you submit. The Bid Writing Team will analyse your response, notifying you of any errors prior to submission.

• Tender Ready

A 4-week programme for those who have never tendered before. The programme will develop your branded corporate literature and case studies. Our team will advise you on what tendering opportunities you should go for and guide you through your tendering response.

• Tender Improvement

The Tender Improvement package can help those who have tendered before but aren’t seeing results. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow.