Update guidance - The Ministry of Defence Procurement process
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The Ministry of Defence's approach to procurement, and where to
find defence opportunities. Published 29 October 2020 Last updated
15 February 2021 — see all updates From: Ministry of Defence Where
to find our...Request free trial
The Ministry of Defence's approach to procurement, and where
to find defence opportunities.
Where to find our contract opportunities Our new e-Sourcing platform called the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP). went live on the 15 February 2021. All new direct tender and contract opportunities valued over £10,000 will now be advertised on the DSP. Access and registration is free of charge and all suppliers looking for opportunities in Defence procurement are encouraged to register their details on the DSP now. All requirements advertised before the launch of the DSP are still available on the legacy Defence Contracts Online (DCO) portal. Access and registration to the DCO portal is also free of charge. All tendering activities started on the DCO will be completed on the DCO, with the portal being retired once all legacy work is concluded. We also advertise our tender and contract opportunities more widely. We use the government’s Contracts Finder portal. Here central government departments and other public bodies advertise tender and contract opportunities valued at £10,000 and above. Access to Contracts Finder is free of charge. Requirements below £10,000 are often one off projects bought in accordance with our internal policy for low value purchasing.
We buy common goods and services via the Crown Commercial
Service website. CCS are the biggest
public procurement organisation in the UK, they provide
a wide range of common goods and services across the
public sector. As a public sector organisation, we procure in a different way to industry with competition as the default position, we set objective tender selection criteria, and we are fair and transparent and will be held accountable for procurement decisions in a way the private sector is not. We do not operate preferred supplier lists.
Our principles include non-discrimination (on grounds
of nationality), equal treatment (of all suppliers),
transparency (act in fair and non-discriminatory
manner), mutual recognition (of equivalent documents
and standards).
As a requirements driven organisation, first, we
identify what we need to buy and we advertise this.
Suppliers then have the opportunity to express their
interest and bid. We use an initial questionnaire to
pre-qualify suppliers. Suppliers are then invited to
tender. We assess bids using pre-agreed criteria and
select suppliers using objective evaluation. This
criteria is used to select a supplier and award the
contract. A debrief is available for suppliers if
requested. |