Procurement opportunities: contracting with us

As a public body, we contract in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

All processes are conducted in an open, fair and transparent manner in line with our procurement policy.

We have a core procurement team supporting and managing higher value contracts with low value transactions delegated to local managers.

Our work covers England, Scotland and Wales, with offices in Cardiff, Glasgow, London and Manchester.

Our strategic priorities are set out in the business plan.

Our bespoke procurement portal is where we advertise 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 on the Find a Tender service as required. We also publish contract award notices for the advertised higher value contract opportunities.

When you first visit the portal, register by following the 'Register Free' link at the top right of the landing page.

Select the Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV) codes of interest which will generate an automatic email notification when an advert is published containing those codes.

We use the following CPV codes on a regular basis:

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

We follow these procedures:

• 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 organisation to be trading profitably and to have a turnover commensurate with contract value.

For research contracts and some others, we require the supplier holds professional indemnity insurance.

The portal allows 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.

The contract award criteria will be detailed in the specification.

We trade on our own terms and conditions which are included with the tender documentation. 

For lower value contracts below £12,000, for example as awarded following a Request for Quote, 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).

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

Senior Procurement Business Partner
Equality and Human Rights Commission
3rd Floor
Arndale Centre
Manchester
M4 3AQ

Email: procurementhelpdesk@equalityhumanrights.com