Police and Crime Commissioner Procurement

Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) were established by the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 as directly elected officials responsible for the governance, budget, and strategic direction of police forces in England and Wales. Each PCC is a contracting authority in their own right, procuring a wide range of goods, services, and works to support the policing function in their area. Their procurement spans vehicles and fleet, body-worn cameras, IT and digital forensics, custody suites, estates management, and professional services.

What is Police and Crime Commissioner Procurement?

A PCC holds the police budget for their force area and is responsible for ensuring value for money in how public funds are spent. As a contracting authority, a PCC must comply with the Procurement Act 2023 for above-threshold contracts, advertising on the Find a Tender Service and following compliant procedures. The Chief Constable of the associated police force holds operational responsibility, which means procurement decisions involve close liaison between the PCC's office and the force's own commercial and operational teams.

In practice, many PCC procurement activities are carried out by the force's shared service or commercial function, with the PCC's office providing governance and sign-off. Some police forces operate collaborative procurement arrangements with neighbouring forces or through the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) commercial workstreams, which coordinate national contracts for common categories such as vehicle fuel, IT infrastructure, and protective equipment.

The Home Office, as the central government department responsible for policing, sets certain national contracts that forces are expected to use. The College of Policing may also influence category strategies for professional learning and development.

Why it matters for bidders

Policing procurement has distinctive characteristics. Security vetting and Developed Vetting (DV) or Security Check (SC) clearance requirements may apply to supplier staff who access police premises or sensitive systems. Suppliers of technology must demonstrate compliance with police-specific information assurance standards, including connection to the Police National Network (PNN) and compliance with the Law Enforcement Data Service (LEDS) access requirements where relevant.

The market is moderately concentrated: there are 43 territorial police forces in England and Wales, each with a PCC, plus the Metropolitan Police (which has the Mayor of London as its equivalent oversight body) and City of London Police. Frameworks used by police bodies include those run by Crown Commercial Service, the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation, and police-specific collaborative arrangements. Suppliers who qualify for collaborative frameworks can access multiple force areas from a single competitive exercise.

Fire and rescue authority procurement shares some category overlaps with police procurement, particularly in fleet, communications, and estates, and both types of authority sometimes participate in joint frameworks.

Example

A technology supplier offering digital evidence management software approaches the market. It identifies that several PCCs are approaching end-of-life on their existing systems and that the NPCC has published a collaborative specification. The supplier qualifies onto a CCS framework for software licensing and then responds to individual force call-off competitions, adapting its case studies to reflect policing-specific outcomes such as case file quality and court submission timelines.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Metropolitan Police Service procurement run by the PCC?

No. The Metropolitan Police Service is overseen by the Mayor of London (acting through the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime), not by a PCC. Its procurement function is part of the Metropolitan Police Service's own commercial directorate and follows the same legislative framework but with a different governance structure.

What frameworks do PCCs commonly use?

PCCs use a mix of Crown Commercial Service frameworks (particularly for IT, professional services, and fleet), police-specific collaborative agreements coordinated through the NPCC, and regional buying consortia such as ESPO or YPO for local-authority-adjacent categories. Some forces run their own dynamic purchasing systems for specialist services.

Do PCCs in Wales follow different procurement rules?

PCCs in Wales operate under the same Procurement Act 2023 framework as those in England. However, the Welsh Government's procurement policies may influence certain categories, and Welsh forces often engage with Welsh Government procurement frameworks alongside national police arrangements.