Procurement opportunities

The Commission has a Great Britain wide remit with principal offices in Birmingham, Cardiff, Glasgow, London and Manchester, with a small number of local offices elsewhere within the UK.

As a public body the Commission contracts in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015. All processes are conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner in compliance with the Commission’s own procurement policy. The Commission has a core procurement team supporting and managing higher value contracts with low value transactions delegated to local managers.

The Commission’s Strategic priorities are set out in the Business Plan.

Procurement Portal

Our bespoke Procurement Portal, is where the Commission advertises all contract opportunities for goods and services that cannot be procured through current contracts or framework agreements. Higher value contract opportunities are also advertised on Contracts Finder and in the Official Journal of the European Union as required. The Commission also publishes contract award notices for the advertised higher value contract opportunities.

When you first visit the Portal please register by following the Register Free link at the top right of the landing page. Remember to select the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes of interest which will generate automatic email notification when an advert is published containing those codes. The Commission uses the following CPV codes on a regular basis.

  • 79315000 - Social research services;
  • 98200000 - Equal opportunities consultancy services

Suppliers’ Requirements

The Commission uses a number of procedures as follow:

  • National framework agreements.
  • Existing collaborative agreements.
  • Request for Quotation (RFQ) for low value contracts.
  • Open tender procedure (ITT) for higher value contracts.

Within an open tender we ask a number of suitability assessment questions of prospective suppliers, containing the following sections:

  • Supplier Information
  • Grounds for mandatory and discretionary exclusion
  • Economic and Financial Standing
  • Technical and Professional Ability
  • Additional Requirements
    ♦ Project specific questions to assess Technical and Professional Ability
    ♦ Insurance
    ♦ Compliance with equality legislation
    ♦ Environmental Management
    ♦ Health and Safety
  • Declaration

​Typically we expect an organization to be trading profitably and to have a turnover commensurate with contract value. For Research Contracts and some others the Commission requires that suppliers hold Professional Indemnity insurance.

The Portal facilitates responses to the suitability assessment questions by storing the supplier’s previous answers for review. The supplier may choose to re-use the same answer or update the response as necessary.

Awards

The contract award criteria will be detailed in the specification. The Commission trades on its own terms and conditions which are included with the tender documentation. For lower value contracts below £10,000 for example as awarded following RfQ, our standard terms and conditions apply, see below.

Once a contract has been awarded and signed by all parties a purchase order (PO) is issued to the contractor. The PO indicates if bespoke terms and conditions apply to the contract otherwise standard terms and conditions apply. Please ensure that the PO number appears on any invoice to ensure prompt payment.

Payments are made to contractors following receipt of goods or services according to contract and in particular to the payment schedule. As far as possible, payments are made by bank automated credits (BACS).

Feedback

If you would like to comment on this information please contact:

Senior Procurement Business Partner
Equality & Human Rights Commission
3rd Floor
Arndale Centre
MANCHESTER
M4 3AQ

e-mail: procurementhelpdesk@equalityhumanrights.com

Last Updated: 25 Feb 2016