Procurement Objectives (UK)

For the first time in UK procurement law, the Procurement Act 2023 places a set of overarching objectives on a statutory footing. These procurement objectives are not aspirational guidance: contracting authorities are legally required to have regard to them in every covered procurement. They provide the normative framework within which all the Act's specific procedural rules operate.

What are the procurement objectives?

The Act requires contracting authorities to have regard to the following objectives when carrying out covered procurement:

Value for money. Contracts should deliver the best available combination of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness, measured in terms of whole-life cost and outcome quality, not merely lowest initial price.

Public good. Procurement should support wider public policy objectives, including those set out in the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS), such as net zero, social value, and national economic resilience.

Transparency. Buyers must act openly, publishing the information the Act requires, being clear about how decisions are made, and making procurement processes accessible and understandable to suppliers.

Integrity. Procurement must be conducted honestly and free from corruption, undue influence, and conflicts of interest. This objective underlies the strengthened exclusion grounds regime and the enhanced conflict of interest obligations in the Act.

Fair treatment and equal opportunity. All suppliers, including small businesses, social enterprises, and new market entrants, must be treated fairly and given a genuine opportunity to compete. Buyers must not design procurements that artificially favour incumbents or large suppliers.

Innovation. Buyers are encouraged to consider innovative solutions and to engage with the market before competition to understand what is possible.

Why it matters for bidders

The procurement objectives create enforceable standards that you can invoke when challenging a procurement decision. If a buyer has conducted a process that is manifestly unfair to small suppliers, has been opaque about how decisions were made, or has prioritised incumbent relationships over value for money, it has potentially failed its statutory obligations under the Act. Citing the relevant objective in a complaint or legal challenge strengthens your position.

The objectives also signal what buyers should be prioritising in their award criteria. A buyer that takes the "public good" objective seriously will include meaningful social value and sustainability criteria in its evaluations.

Example

A central government department runs a competitive tender for policy research services. After the competitive award, an unsuccessful bidder reviews the assessment summary and notes that the scoring panel appears to have awarded inconsistent marks for essentially identical methodological approaches across different bidders. The supplier argues that this violates the "fair treatment" objective and the requirement to apply award criteria consistently, and raises a formal challenge during the standstill period.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the procurement objectives enforceable in court?

Yes, in the sense that a failure to have regard to the objectives may form part of a successful procurement challenge. Courts will assess whether the buyer gave genuine consideration to the objectives, not merely whether it paid lip service to them.

Do the objectives apply to below-threshold procurements?

The procurement objectives apply to covered procurement, which is principally above-threshold. However, buyers are expected to apply the principles of fair treatment and transparency even to smaller purchases, and the Act's general duties provide a basis for challenge even where the full procedural regime does not apply.

How do the procurement objectives relate to the NPPS?

The objectives are set out in the Act itself and represent the primary statutory obligation. The NPPS provides more specific guidance on how to give effect to those objectives in the current policy environment. Where the NPPS and the objectives appear to pull in different directions, the statutory objectives take precedence.