Procurement at IPO
How we buy goods and services, and how you can work with us.
We work in collaboration with our parent Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), particularly around the areas of common goods and services to achieve value for money across DSIT and its partner organisations.
It is of paramount importance that we comply with the UK law and Public Procurement legislation.
Introducing the Procurement Act 2023
Rules governing public procurement are changing - The new Procurement Act 2023 reforms existing procurement rules and is due to come into force on 28 October 2024.
Existing rules will continue to apply for inflight requirements, including those due to be procured through existing framework agreements.
Watch the YouTube video below to hear more about the changes which will impact businesses.
The Procurement Act 2023: for suppliers (youtube.com).
Contracts listings
IPO utilises government frameworks wherever possible to purchase its goods and services. Typically these are contracting vehicles let by the Crown Commercial Service - CCS although we may utilise other pre-tendered arrangements where these are found to offer best value for money. Our contracts are awarded by competition between potential suppliers unless there are compelling reasons why competition cannot be used.
Where the public procurement directives apply, contracts are also advertised in the Find a Tender Service (FTS) Find high value contracts in the public sector,
The IPO use an eTendering tool called Atamis to manage its procurement exercises.
Improving opportunities for small and medium enterprises
The government recognises the importance of the role of SMEs in the UK’s economic growth. The IPO is committed to increasing spend with SMEs.
Contracts Finder is the main source of government contract opportunities with a value greater than £10,000.
You can access this to view closed tender and contract documentation that has been published by government departments and their agencies in order to promote openness and transparency, as well as opportunities to bid for government work.
Terms and conditions
We are an executive agency of DSIT and we conduct business using the government standard contracts terms and conditions.
For requirements below £15,000 we trade using Department standard terms and conditions.
For requirements in excess we may use framework specific terms of the model forms stated below:
Procurement Policy note: using standard contracts
Information sharing in government procurement exercises
Please note that all central government departments and their executive agencies and non departmental public bodies are subject to control and reporting within government. In particular, they report to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury for all expenditure. Further, the Cabinet Office has a cross-government role delivering overall government policy on public procurement - including ensuring value for money and related aspects of good procurement practice.
For these purposes, the authority (IPO) may disclose within government any of the contractor’s documentation/information (including any that the contractor considers to be confidential and/or commercially sensitive such as specific bid information) submitted by the contractor to the authority during this procurement. The information will not be disclosed outside government. Contractors taking part in procurement exercises must consent to these terms as part of the competition process.
Transparency
The government has set out the need for greater transparency across its operations so that the public can hold to account public bodies and politicians.
To help achieve greater transparency, all new central government tender documents for contracts over £10,000 should be published and available to the public free of charge. Further information can be found on the Transparency requirements guidance.
Suppliers bidding for contracts with the IPO should be aware that if they are successful the resulting contract will be published. In some circumstances limited redactions will be made to contract documentation before they are published.
Handling and working with government information
With effect from the 2 April 2014, the government implemented the new security classification policy, changing the way government information will be marked and handled.
Feedback on IPO’s procurement processes
We value feedback from existing and prospective suppliers, and always look to improve our procurement processes and customer-supplier relationships.
If you would like to give feedback, or have any general questions, please contact our team on [email protected].