Procurement at MOJ
Information about procurement at the Ministry of Justice and how we're improving procurement opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Introduction
At the Ministry of Justice we buy a wide range of goods and services to meet our customer’s needs. Most of our procurements involve a competitive tendering process and follow UK public procurement regulations and policies. Procurements are subject to different regulations and policies depending on their value.
We publish details of procurement opportunities and contract awards in the following places, where applicable:
- Contracts Finder: : Opportunities and awards over £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. The opportunities include ‘live’ opportunities, ‘future’ opportunities that are likely to go live in the next five years, and ‘early engagement’ opportunities which we use to aid the development of ideas that may become opportunities in the future.
- Find a Tender Service (FTS): Opportunities and awards that exceed thresholds set in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015 are also published on FTS.
- The Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU): Awards for contracts exceeding the same thresholds for which contract notices were published before the end of the EU Exit Transition Period are published in OJEU as well as FTS.
Read Commercial and Contract Management in the Ministry of Justice for information about how we are structured and what sort of contracts we manage.
MOJ Commercial Pipeline
MOJ’s commercial pipeline provides a forward look of our potential commercial activity over the next 36 months. We have included all our major projects and anticipated procurements valued at £2 million and over. The information presented is for reference only and reflects MOJ’s anticipated procurement pipeline MOJ makes no commitment that:
- the requirements identified in the table will be procured
- the annual value of any contract will be as stated
- the timing of any future procurement exercises will be as stated
The sourcing route for any subsequent procurement has not been determined, for example it would be via frameworks managed by Crown Commercial Services (CCS) or open competitions.
MOJ cannot guarantee that these opportunities will be available to all suppliers.
We will refresh our published commercial pipeline every 6 months and will continue to publish details of all our opportunities, including those valued at less than £10 million, on Contracts Finder.
How to tender for a public-sector contract
The guide Sell goods or services to the public sector, gives detailed information about the procurement and tendering process, how to use contracts finder and how to search for a contract.
eProcurement
eProcurement provides an efficient, simple and auditable way of managing sourcing and contract management. To take part in an eProcurement event you must submit an expression of interest in response to a tender that the MOJ has advertised.
This can be done through the eSourcing portal.
Once an expression of interest is submitted, if your organisation is not already registered, we will send you an invitation to register. After registering, you will be invited to a sourcing event.
For further information contact the eSourcing team at eSourcing@justice.gov.uk or telephone 0845 010 0132.
Prompt payment to suppliers
We recognise the importance of prompt payment and by following our purchasing and payment process you can help us achieve this for you.
Purchase Orders
In many circumstances we have ordering processes in place that we have agreed with our contracted suppliers. Where these aren’t in place, we require orders to be supported by a purchase order before you provide any goods or services to the Ministry of Justice. Purchase order numbers need to be quoted on your invoice and this will avoid any delays to you receiving payment.
Ministry of Justice purchase order terms and conditions
Ministry of Justice General purchase order terms and conditions:
Government Facilities Service Limited (GFSL) purchase order terms and conditions
Government Facility Services Limited (GFSL) purchase order terms and conditions:
Contact us
For further information or guidance, contact us by email at: CCMDcommercialstandards@justice.gov.uk.
Invoicing the Ministry of Justice
The following information needs to be provided on your invoice:
- a unique identification number (invoice number)
- a valid purchase order (PO) number quoted on the invoice
- your company name, address and contact information
- the name and address of the department/agency you’re invoicing
- a clear description of what you’re charging for
- the date the goods or service were provided (supply date)
- the date of the invoice
- the amount(s) being charged
- VAT amount if applicable
- the total amount owed.
- invoices relating to a PO only contain items covered by PO lines
(except for postage / courier charges up to £30 which do not need a PO line).
We encourage all our suppliers to email their invoices to us as we work with you to reduce our carbon footprint. This will also contribute to quicker processing times for you.
When emailing your invoice, please note:
- Attach your invoice as a .pdf file format, with one invoice per pdf
- Don’t compressed or password protect your invoice
- email size must not exceed 4mb - multiple pdfs can be attached to one email
- All supporting information should be contained within the pdf as the email itself is disregarded (invoices are processed using scanning software).
For your information, the day we receive your invoice by email or at our address if you send by post, is the date of receipt.
Send your invoice to the following email address and/or postal addresses:
HMCTS
Email: APinvoices-CTS-U@gov.sscl.com
SSCL – HM Courts and Tribunal Service
PO Box 745
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
HMPPS
Email: APinvoices-NMS-U@gov.sscl.com
SSCL – National Offender Management Service
PO Box 741
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
MoJ Corporate
Email: APinvoices-MOJ-U@gov.sscl.com
Ministry of Justice
PO Box 743
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Youth Justice Board
Email: APinvoices-YJB-U@gov.sscl.com
SSCL – Youth Justice Board
PO Box 771
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Wales Office
Email: APinvoices-WAL-U@gov.sscl.com
SSCL – Wales Office
PO Box 768
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Legal Aid Agency
Email: APinvoices-LAA-U@gov.sscl.com
SSCL – Legal Aid Agency
PO Box 747
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Office of the Public Guardian
Email: APinvoices-OPG-U@gov.sscl.com
SSCL – Office of the Public Guardian
PO Box 767
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Parole Board
Email: APinvoices-PBD-U@gov.sscl.com
SSCL – Parole Board
PO Box 773
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
Judicial Appointments Commission
Email: APinvoices-JAC-U@gov.sscl.com
SSCL – Judicial Appointments Commission
PO Box 774
Newport
Gwent
NP10 8FZ
If you have any queries, contact the helpline:
Shared Service Contact Centre Email: MoJ-finance-ap-enquiries@gov.sscl.com Telephone: 0845 241 5351
If an invoice is being disputed we will tell you who to contact with further enquiries. The payment target will be frozen while the dispute is resolved. If your invoice is legitimate and we take over 30 days to pay it, you may have recourse through the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998.
Tender and contractual complaints process
The Ministry of Justice is committed to public sector best practice. Competitive processes are governed by EU law and UK legislation. In all commercial activity the Ministry of Justice pursues the highest standards of professionalism, ethical conduct and impartiality. We are always ready to receive feedback on our competitive processes, whether negative or positive, and will respond to complaints using this complaints process.
We are fully committed to maintaining confidentiality and will take appropriate measures to ensure it. If you are currently involved in tendering for work with the Ministry of Justice you can be assured that your comments will not be allowed to prejudice the fair treatment of your tender.
How to complain
Complaints should be made in writing to the named contact point for the relevant competitive tender round.
A copy of all complaints should be sent to the Commercial and Contract Management Directorate (CCMD) Compliance team:
CCMDcommercialstandards@justice.gov.uk
We acknowledge all complaints in writing within five working days and aim to respond within ten working days. If a full response cannot be issued within this timescale we will let you know how long it will take.
We monitor and report on the complaints we have received and our goal is to learn from them and improve our processes.
Information to accompany a complaint
If you have a comment or complaint about any aspect of a current/recent procurement round please provide in writing full details of the procurement round you are referring to including if possible:
- Any reference details
- Goods / service being tendered for
- Contact details of the relevant commercial contract manager
If you are not satisfied with your reply, you may contact the person who responded to your initial complaint, or another contact point named in our response to you. Your complaint will be acknowledged in writing within five working days of receipt.
If you are still dissatisfied, depending on its nature, we may refer your complaint to the Legal Services Directorate if appropriate. Your complaint will be acknowledged in writing within five working days of receipt.
Our payment performance
Our performance data for the latest financial year is provided below.
From 2020/21, our prompt payment performance data includes all MOJ’s Agencies, ALBs & NDPBs. Gov Facility Services Ltd, which is a Private Limited Company, is not included: its prompt payment data will be published on the GFSL pages.
2024-25
| Financial year 2024/2025 | % of invoices paid within 5 days | % of invoices paid within 30 days | Total Amount of Liability to Pay (£) | Amount of statutory interest paid to suppliers (£) |
| First quarter | 87.33% | 97.65% | TBC | TBC |
| Second quarter | 89.11% | 97.74% | TBC | TBC |
| Third quarter | - | - | - | - |
| Fourth quarter | - | - | - | - |
2023-24
| Financial year 2023/2024 | % of invoices paid within 5 days | % of invoices paid within 30 days | Total Amount of Liability to Pay (£) | Amount of statutory interest paid to suppliers (£) |
| First quarter | 86.20% | 97.25% | TBC | TBC |
| Second quarter | 85.93% | 96.90% | TBC | TBC |
| Third quarter | 86.12% | 96.91% | TBC | TBC |
| Fourth quarter | 87.30% | 97.25% | TBC | TBC |
2022-23
| Financial year 2022/2023 | % of invoices paid within 5 days | % of invoices paid within 30 days | Total amount of liability to pay (£) | Amount of statutory interest paid to suppliers (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First quarter | 85.16% | 96.88% | TBC | TBC |
| Second quarter | 85.85% | 96.66% | TBC | TBC |
| Third quarter | 86.76% | 96.39% | TBC | TBC |
| Fourth quarter | 86.17%% | 96.35% | TBC | TBC |
2021-22
| Financial year 2021/2022 | % of invoices paid within 5 days | % of invoices paid within 30 days | Total amount of liability to pay (£) | Amount of statutory interest paid to suppliers (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First quarter | 88.13% | 97.85% | TBC | TBC |
| Second quarter | 87.22% | 97.50% | TBC | TBC |
| Third quarter | 86.67% | 97.36% | TBC | TBC |
| Fourth quarter | 86.44% | 97.25% | TBC | TBC |
2020-21
| Financial year 2020/2021 | % of invoices paid within 5 days | % of invoices paid within 30 days | Total amount of liability to pay (£) | Amount of statutory interest paid to suppliers (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First quarter | 84.3% | 96.5% | 380,108.80 | 3,230.33 |
| Second quarter | 89.95% | 97.86% | TBC | TBC |
| Third quarter | 87.12% | 97.18% | TBC | TBC |
| Fourth quarter | 88.16% | 97.17% | TBC | TBC |
2019-20
| Financial year 2020/2021 | % of invoices paid within 5 days | % of invoices paid within 30 days | Total amount of liability to pay (£) | Amount of statutory interest paid to suppliers (£) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First quarter | 85.41% | 96.87% | 518,023.56 | 8,860.49 |
| Second quarter | 86.44% | 96.91% | 503,360.70 | 1,719.07 |
| Third quarter | 85.98% | 96.71% | 391,863.37 | 2,248.91 |
| Fourth quarter | 86.58% | 97.24% | 490,234.79 | 10,496.28 |
Read historical payment performance data for the Ministry of Justice.
The new Procurement Act
The Procurement Act, passed last year, promises to transform public procurement by making it simpler, more transparent, and more conducive to innovation. It likely to come into force in October 2024, contracts advertised after which date will be subject to the act rather than to current regulations. It is important that current and prospective suppliers to the public sector know about the changes the act will bring.
Cabinet Office has produced a short guide for suppliers and a collection of Knowledge Drops for suppliers, as part of a wider package of resources.
Working with small and medium enterprise (SME)
A SME has been defined by the EU as follows:
| Company category | Staff headcount | Turnover | or balance sheet total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium-sized | < 250 | ≤ € 50 m | ≤ € 43 m |
| Small | < 50 | ≤ € 10 m | ≤ € 10 m |
| Micro | < 10 | ≤ € 2 m | ≤ € 2 m |
SMEs have a key role to play in the UK’s economy and the Government’s Open for Business Strategy. The Government has set a target of 33% of all Government contracted spend by 2022.
Find out more about government’s support for SMEs in the Small and Medium Business Hub.
We will demonstrate our commitment to the SME Agenda by ensuring that businesses of all sizes can work with us and aim to increase the number of SMEs that can compete for government business.
Read more about the Government’s Open for Business Strategy.
Ministry of Justice supporting SMEs and VCSEs
Our Small and Medium Size Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) Action Plan sets out our objectives to improve the outcomes of SMEs and VCSEs through our commercial activity. This combined plan supports our integrated approach towards reducing the barriers SMEs and VCSEs may face when bidding for our contracts to create a more diverse supply chain and to encourage innovation. The plan provides:
- background to us as a department
- shows our past performance and our future targets
- describes the outcomes we are seeking to achieve for SMEs/VSCEs, our supply chain and some of the actions we will take to achieve them.
These measures will encourage innovation and broaden the scope of businesses who can respond to our requirements. We are working to give all our suppliers the confidence to invest for the future and the ability to compete on a level playing field.
SME Spend
Crown Commercial Service, part of Cabinet Office, report on all Government Department spend.
Case Studies
The Ministry of Justice is one of the best performing departments in Government for SME spend (including direct and indirect spend). We believe we can do more, building on the successes we have had and we have published a selection of case studies which demonstrate this. We will look to build up these case studies to show how we continue to make progress.
Contact us
For further information and support for SMEs contact:
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