Doing business with us

The commercial directorate is responsible for achieving value for money on expenditure. Value for money is buying the right goods and services at the right price from the right supplier and ensuring contracts are continuously managed.

Recognising the important contribution small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) make to the economy, it is government and Home Office policy to encourage this group to bid for Home Office business. If you are a SME then you may be interested in the following websites:

• Business Link  - practical advice for business. 
• Think Smart, Think Voluntary Sector - if you are a voluntary organisation who may be interested in this booklet. 

How to become a supplier

Opportunities to become a Home Office supplier can be found by:

• registering on our eSourcing Portal 
• looking for opportunities to tender on the Official Journal of the European Union's Ted (tenders electronic daily) website. All government opportunities to tender that are over the limits set by the EU directives are listed here. The data is updated daily.
• visiting the Government Opportunities website

Procurement policy

The Home Office is required to procure all its goods and services through fair and open competition and is required to comply with the regularity framework set out in the EU Public Procurement Directives where applicable.

Not all procurement is within the framework of the directives, though all procurement must comply with the principles of the Treaty of Rome/accession Treaty. 

In essence this sets down principles and procedures to prevent discrimination against suppliers from any member state and to remove restrictions on moving goods and services freely.

All procurements that exceed the EU Public Procurement Directives thresholds (which are revised periodically) are advertised in Ted (Tenders electronic daily), the supplement to the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), via a contract notice.  The contract notice allows expressions of interest in any of the requirements advertised.

Transparency agenda

The coalition government have set out the need for greater transparency across its operations so that the public can hold public bodies and politicians to account.

To find out how this will impact how you do business with the Home Office, please read the supplier factsheet.

For more information

You can find information about the EU public procurement directives and regulations on the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) website.

Your feedback is important so that we can continue to develop and improve this site. If you have any comments or suggestions, please contact us. 

Terms and conditions

Short form contracts

These are the short form of contracts, with standard terms and conditions for low value goods and services. These are the most generally used form of contracts. Follow the links below to view these contracts.

• standard terms and conditions for goods
• standard terms and conditions for services
• standard terms and conditions for consultancy 

Terms and conditions for face-to-face interpreting services

The current terms and conditions for face-to-face interpreting services for Her Majesty's Courts Service and the Crown Prosecution Service are available on the HMCS website.