Procurement and spending

The Audit Commission is subject to the legal and regulatory framework for public sector procurement. The procurement function within our finance department is custodian of this policy. We are accountable for achieving best value for money and are open to legal challenge under the EC public procurement directives and related UK regulations.

We have achieved the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply’s (external link) silver accreditation for organisational certification excellence in procurement policies and procedures.

Procurement strategy

The Commission’s Procurement Strategy supports the Commission’s strategic objectives and ambitions by raising the profile of strategic procurement across the organisation. The Strategy ensures procurement activities are integrated and focused on the achievement of the Commission’s ambition to become an exemplary organisation.

Strategic procurement objectives

There are five strategic procurement objectives:

Value for money.
Sustainable procurement.
Developing and valuing our people.
Knowledge and information.
Excellent procurement service.

Guiding principles

The strategic objectives are underpinned with four guiding principles:

To be close to the business.
To be an exemplar of best practice.
To minimise the burden.
To promote diversity and corporate social responsibility.

Key principles

The key principles of the Audit Commission’s Procurement Policy are as follows:

Value for money – a prime aim of the procurement process is to ensure that best Value for Money (VFM) is achieved.
Competition – procurement should be through open competition unless there are exceptional circumstances.
International obligations – it is mandatory that the procurement process complies fully with the EC Procurement Directives and the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.
Payment on time – suppliers must be paid on time in accordance with contractual arrangements.
Ethical standards – procurement must be undertaken to highest ethical standards, and fairness to suppliers.
Legal aspects – contracts must be in writing, and in accordance with the Audit Commission’s legal policy.
External consultancy – all contracts for external consultancy where the fees will be paid gross under Schedule D will be prepared by the Procurement Team.
Environmental impact – purchasers must consider environmental impacts and aim to minimise adverse effects.
Other government initiatives – full account must be taken of other relevant Government initiatives.

Contract opportunities

The European Commission recommends in the Consolidated Procurement Directive that authorities provide their purchasing and procurement information via a procurement portal. The buyer profile provides information on purchase plans, contact details, future, current and past contracts. By publishing this information the Audit Commission offers suppliers the opportunity to identify future opportunities, respond to current opportunities and view existing suppliers along with the goods and/or services purchased.

The Audit Commission publishes contract opportunities on this page (below), in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) and on Supply2Gov (external link) (for below threshold tender exercises).

Register for free on Supply2Gov – the Government’s national lower-value procurement portal to receive daily email alerts containing relevant tender opportunities and to promote your company to the public sector. Supply2Gov aims to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with visibility of Government tender opportunities below the OJEU thresholds (typically below £100,000) to encourage them to sell to Government – a huge potential market which can provide the stability SMEs need to thrive and grow.

When a tender exercise starts, the procurement team will place the relevant documents on this page for interested suppliers to download.

If you require tender documents in an alternative format, please contact the procurement service to discuss your needs.