Procurement

Purpose

The purpose of the Public Contracts Regulations is to open up the public procurement market. In most cases they require competition. The Regulations reflect and reinforce the value for money focus of the Government’s procurement policy. This requires that all public procurement must be based on value for money, defined as ‘the best mix of quality and effectiveness for the least outlay over the period of use of the goods or services bought’, which should be achieved through competition, unless there are compelling reasons to the contrary.

Current Thresholds (January 2024)

The value of a contract is the expected amount of consideration (in money or money’s worth) that will be received by the person or organisation that carries out the works or provides the services or supplies, over the full anticipated lifetime of supply.