Procurement at MOJ
Information about procurement at the Ministry of Justice and how we're improving procurement opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Introduction
At the Ministry of Justice we buy a wide range of goods and services to meet our customer’s needs.
Most of our procurement involves a competitive tendering process and follows the EU procurement regulations and directives. These will change according to the value of the contract. Details of our tender and contract documents are available on the Contracts Finder website. Procurements that exceed the thresholds set in EU Public Procurement Directive thresholds are advertised in Tenders electronic daily(TED) the supplement to the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU), via a contract notice.
The OJEU publishes information on all procurement contracts that are worth more than the EU limit. It invites suppliers to express interest or tender directly and sets out information about our contracts that have been awarded.
Read Commercial and Contract Management in the Ministry of Justice for information about how we are structured and what sort of contracts we manage.
Tendering opportunities
The Ministry of Justice advertises 3 types of opportunity on the Contracts Finder website. These are:
- opportunity – this is a live tendering opportunity that potential suppliers can bid on
- future opportunity – these are potential future opportunities that may become live tendering opportunities within the next five years
- early engagement – we use 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
The guide Sell goods or services to the public sector, gives detailed information about the procurement and tendering process, how to use contracts finder and how to search for a contract.
eProcurement
eProcurement provides an efficient, simple and auditable way of managing sourcing and contract management. To take part in an eProcurement event you must submit an expression of interest in response to a tender that the MOJ has advertised.
This can be done through the eSourcing portal.
Once an expression of interest is submitted, if your organisation is not already registered, we will send you an invitation to register. After registering, you will be invited to a sourcing event.
For further information contact the eSourcing team at eSourcing@justice.gov.uk or telephone 0845 010 0132.
Tender and contractual complaints process
The Ministry of Justice is committed to public sector best practice. Competitive processes are governed by EU law and UK legislation. In all commercial activity the Ministry of Justice pursues the highest standards of professionalism, ethical conduct and impartiality. We are always ready to receive feedback on our competitive processes, whether negative or positive, and will respond to complaints using this complaints process.
We are fully committed to maintaining confidentiality and will take appropriate measures to ensure it. If you are currently involved in tendering for work with the Ministry of Justice you can be assured that your comments will not be allowed to prejudice the fair treatment of your tender.
How to complain
Complaints should be made in writing to the named contact point for the relevant competitive tender round.
A copy of all complaints should be sent to the Commercial and Contract Management Directorate (CCMD) Compliance team:
commercialcompliance@justice.gov.uk
We acknowledge all complaints in writing within five working days and aim to respond within ten working days. If a full response cannot be issued within this timescale we will let you know how long it will take.
We monitor and report on the complaints we have received and our goal is to learn from them and improve our processes.
Information to accompany a complaint
If you have a comment or complaint about any aspect of a current/recent procurement round please provide in writing full details of the procurement round you are referring to including if possible:
- Any reference details
- Goods / service being tendered for
- Contact details of the relevant commercial contract manager
If you are not satisfied with your reply, you may contact the person who responded to your initial complaint, or another contact point named in our response to you. Your complaint will be acknowledged in writing within five working days of receipt.
If you are still dissatisfied, depending on its nature, we may refer your complaint to the Legal Services Directorate if appropriate. Your complaint will be acknowledged in writing within five working days of receipt.
MoJ purchase order terms and conditions
Ministry of Justice General purchase order terms and conditions:
Government Facilities Service Limited (GFSL)
Government Facility Services Limited (GFSL) purchase order terms and conditions:
Contact us
For further information or guidance, contact us by email at: commercial.compliance@justice.gov.uk.
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 Ministry of Justice
When invoicing us you must include:
- Invoice number / unique identification number
- date of invoice
- your name and contact details
- name and address of the department/agency you are invoicing
- your bank details
- the purchase order number given to you by the department (a 11-digit number)
- description of the services / goods you are charging for
- 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 / provided the goods including the date
Please note: Invoices should be sent in PDF format if submitted via email.
Send your invoice to the following email and/or postal addresses:
HMCTS
Email: APinvoices-CTS-U@sscl.gov.uk
SSCL – Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service
PO Box 745
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
HMPPS
Email: APinvoices-NMS-U@gov.sscl.com
SSCL – National Offender Management Service
PO Box 741
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
MoJ Corporate
Email: APinvoices-MOJ-U@sscl.gov.uk
Ministry of Justice
PO Box 743
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Youth Justice Board
Email: APinvoices-YJB-U@sscl.gov.uk
SSCL – Youth Justice Board
PO Box 771
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Wales Office
Email: APinvoices-WAL-U@ssc.gov.uk
SSCL – Wales Office
PO Box 768
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Legal Aid Agency
Email: APinvoices-LAA-U@sscl.gov.uk
SSCL – Legal Aid Agency
PO Box 747
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Office of the Public Guardian
Email: APinvoices-OPG-U@sscl.gov.uk
SSCL – Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 767
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Parole Board
Email: APinvoices-PBD-U@sscl.gov.uk
SSCL – Parole Board
PO Box 773
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Judicial Appointments Commission
Email: APinvoices-JAC-U@sscl.gov.uk
SSCL – Judicial Appointments Commission
PO Box 774
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
If you have any queries, contact the helpline:
Shared Service Contact Centre Email: MoJ-finance-ap-enquiries@sscl.gov.uk Telephone: 0845 241 5351
If an invoice is being disputed 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
Our performance data for the latest financial year is provided below:
2019-20
| Financial year 2019/2020 | % of invoices paid within 5 days | % of invoices paid within 30 days |
|---|---|---|
| First quarter | 85.41% | 96.87% |
| Second quarter | 86.44% | 96.91% |
| Third quarter | 85.98% | 96.71% |
| Fourth quarter | 86.58% | 97.24% |
Read historical payment performance data for the Ministry of Justice.
Working with small and medium enterprise (SME)
A SME has been defined by the EU as follows:
| Company category | Staff headcount | Turnover | or balance sheet total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium-sized | < 250 | ≤ € 50 m | ≤ € 43 m |
| Small | < 50 | ≤ € 10 m | ≤ € 10 m |
| Micro | < 10 | ≤ € 2 m | ≤ € 2 m |
SMEs have a key role to play in the UK’s economy and the Government’s Open for Business Strategy. The Government has set a target of 33% of all Government contracted spend by 2022.
Find out more about bidding for government contracts in the doing business with government guide for SMEs.
We will demonstrate our commitment to the SME Agenda by ensuring that businesses of all sizes can work with us and aim to increase the number of SMEs that can compete for government business.
Read more about the Government’s Open for Business Strategy.
Ministry of Justice supporting SMEs
The Ministry of Justice has produced a SME Action Plan which:
- Provides background to us as a department
- Shows our past performance and our future targets
- Describes the outcomes we are seeking to achieve for SMEs, our supply chain and some of the actions we will take to achieve them.
These measures will encourage innovation and broaden the scope of businesses who can respond to our requirements. We are working to give all our suppliers the confidence to invest for the future and the ability to compete on a level playing field.
SME Spend
Crown Commercial Service, part of Cabinet Office, report on all Government Department spend.
Case Studies
The Ministry of Justice is one of the best performing departments in Government for SME spend (including direct and indirect spend). We believe we can do more, building on the successes we have had and we have published a selection of case studies which demonstrate this. We will look to build up these case studies to show how we continue to make progress:
Contact us
For further information and support for SMEs contact: