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Procurement at MOJ

Information about procurement at the Ministry of Justice and how we're improving procurement opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Most procurement at the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) involves a formal competitive tendering process and follows EU procurement regulations and directives. These change according to the value of the contract.

Details of our tender and contract documents can be found on the Contracts Finder website. All procurements that exceed the EU Public Procurement Directive thresholds (currently set at £106,047) are advertised in TED (Tenders electronic daily) the supplement to the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU), via a contract notice.

The OJEU publishes information on procurement contracts that are worth more than the EU limit. It invites suppliers to express interest or tender directly and sets out information about contracts that have been awarded.

Tendering opportunities

There are 3 types of opportunities that the MOJ advertises on the Contracts Finder website. These are:

  • opportunity – this is a live tendering opportunity that potential suppliers are able to bid on
  • future opportunity – these are potential future opportunities that may become live tendering opportunities within the next five years
  • early engagement – MOJ uses this type of opportunity to engage with the market place to aid the development of ideas that may potentially become opportunities in the future

How to tender for a public sector contract

Find out more about the procurement and tendering process, how to use contracts finder and how to search for a contract in the tendering for public sector contracts guide.

Purchase order terms and conditions

General purchase order terms and conditions:

eProcurement

eProcurement (procuring online) provides an efficient, simple and auditable way of managing sourcing and contract management.

It also:

  • improves the visibility of sourcing activities
  • increases opportunities for suppliers to interact with the MOJ
  • ensures fair and open competition

To take part in an eProcurement event you must submit an expression of interest in response to a tender that the MOJ has advertised.

The eSourcing portal manages the sourcing process.

If you are already registered and want to submit an expression of interest in response to a tender you can do so through the portal.

If you are not registered you need to follow these steps:

  1. submit an expression of interest to the MOJ
  2. the MOJ will invite you to register with the eSourcing portal
  3. register with the eSourcing portal
  4. you will get an email inviting you to the sourcing event that you have expressed an interest in

If you need further help you can contact the eSourcing team.

Email: eSourcing@justice.gsi.gov.uk Telephone: 0845 010 0132

Tender and contractual complaints process

If you have a complaint regarding our competitive tendering process, you can find guidance on how to submit a complaint below.

Tender contractual complaints process (PDF, 87.2KB, 3 pages)

Prompt payment of our suppliers

We aim to pay all valid and authorised invoices within 5 working days in line with the prompt payment code. We will not be changing our existing contractual terms and conditions.

The date of receipt is defined as the day we receive your invoice at our address.

Invoicing the MOJ

When invoicing the MOJ you must include:

  • date of invoice
  • your name and contact details
  • your bank details
  • the purchase order number given to you by the department
  • the agreed charge (if not, a breakdown of the work services related to the charge, or an explanation of the difference between the actual charge and the agreed one)
  • confirmation that you’ve completed the services fully

Send your invoice to:

Shared Services Connected Ltd
PO Box 769
Newport
Gwent
NP20 9BB

If you have any queries contact the helpdesk

Email: enquiries@hmps.gsi.gov.uk

Telephone: 0845 010 3502

Invoicing the National Offender Management Service (NOMS)

Carry out the same process as above, but entering a NOMS purchase order number (a 7 digit number usually starting with a 1 or 2).

Send your invoice to:

National Offender Management Service

Ministry of Justice Shared Services

PO Box 746

Newport

NP20 9BB

If you have any queries contact the helpline:

Shared Service Contact Centre
Email: enquiries@hmps.gsi.gov.uk
Telephone: 0845 010 3502

You’ll be informed if your invoice is being disputed and we will tell you who to contact with further enquiries. The payment target will be frozen while the dispute is resolved.

If your invoice is legitimate and we take over 30 days to pay it, you may have recourse through the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.

Our payment performance

The percentage of invoices paid by the MOJ within 5 working days and 30 days:’

2016-17

Financial year 2016/2017 % of invoices paid within 5 days % of invoices paid within 30 days Total amount of liability to pay [From April 2016]
First quarter 88.1 97.7  

2015-16

Financial year 2015/2016 % of invoices paid within 5 days % of invoices paid within 30 days Total amount of liability to pay [From April 2016]
First quarter 82.6 94.11  
Second quarter 82.8 93.17  
Third quarter 89.77 94.39  
Fourth quarter 82.36 97.7  
Annual prompt payment figure 83% 94%  

2014-15

Period Percentage
Year average 84.4%
Mar 2015 85.6%
Feb 2015 87.1%
Jan 2015 85.2%
Dec 2014 85.2%
Nov 2014 85.6%
Oct 2014 85.5%
Sep 2014 82.1%
Aug 2014 84%
Jul 2014 85.7%
Jun 2014 82.1%
May 2014 82.1%
April 2014 82.1%

2013-14

Period Percentage
Year average 84.7%
March 2014 83.6%
February 2014 83.0%
January 2014 82.4%
December 2013 82.0%
November 2013 83.4%
October 2013 83.6%
September 2013 87.4%
August 2013 87.7%
July 2013 86.9%
June 2013 84.4%
May 2013 86.0%
April 2013 85.8%

2012-13

Period Percentage
Year average 87.9%
March 2013 86.1%
February 2013 85.4%
January 2013 83.4%
December 2012 84.3%
November 2012 90.2%
October 2102 89.1%
September 2012 88.7%
August 2012 88.5%
July 2012 89.3%
June 2012 89.2%
May 2012 90.3%
April 2012 88.6%

Promoting small and medium enterprise (SME) procurement

An SME has been defined by the EU as follows:

Category Headcount Turnover Balance sheet total
Medium <250 £41 Million £35.2 Million
Small <50 £8.2 Million £8.2 Million
Micro <10 £1.7 Million £1.7m

Our procurement team are undertaking a range of work to support growth, and specifically to ensure that businesses of all sizes can work with the department and increasing the number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) that can compete on a level playing field for government business and supporting the UK economy at all levels.

The MOJ is one of the top performing departments in government in respect of expenditure with SMEs. In 2012/13, 35% of MOJ procurement spend went to SMEs, exceeding the government’s aspiration of 25%. We have increased MoJ’s spend with SMEs over the past 2 years by implementing a number of process changes to increase transparency and make it easier for SMEs to bid for MoJ work. This includes:

  • appointing a Ministerial SME lead, supported by an SME champion in MoJ’s procurement team to oversee the implementation and delivery of the SME departmental action plan (PDF, 30.7KB, 5 pages)

  • advertising business opportunities over £10,000 on Contracts Finder, the single advertising portal for government opportunities, to ensure that businesses everywhere can bid for contracts
  • publishing a quarterly pipeline of forthcoming opportunities on the MoJ website, providing SMEs with early sight of forthcoming tender opportunities to help them plan and, where appropriate, to enable them to either form consortia or join prime contractors in order to be in a stronger position to bid for our business
  • removing the Pre Qualification Questionnaire for all sub OJEU tenders
  • where possible, splitting large contracts into smaller ‘lots’ that are more suitable for SMEs to bid for

We’ve implemented more efficient operating procedures to ensure that all but the most complex procurements are completed within the government’s new 120 day target, and have discontinued the use of the lengthy Competitive Dialogue competition procedure unless it can be demonstrated that it delivers value for money. Our procurement projects are now being undertaken using the EU Open Procedure.

MoJ has also been trialling Project Bank Accounts for construction suppliers, which aims to get payment to SME subcontractors immediately when the main contractor is paid, to further support SMEs working with government. We already include a ‘fair payment’ clause in all contract documentation with main contractors, which ensures payment to those further down the supply chain within 30 days.

These measures will encourage innovation and broaden the scope of businesses who can respond to our requirements. MoJ is working to give all our suppliers the confidence to invest for the future and the ability to compete on a level playing field.

Winning the contract: free online course