Procurement Dictionary™
Search essential UK public procurement terminology in plain English, with practical SME examples and direct links to the relevant WPP playbooks.
62 terms shown
Abnormally Low Tender
A tender price that appears unusually low compared with the requirement, market conditions or competing bids.
Assessment Summary
A document provided under the Procurement Act regime that explains how a supplier’s tender was assessed against the published criteria.
Award Criteria
The published factors a buyer uses to decide which tender offers the best result. They may cover quality, price, social value, delivery, risk or other stated considerations.
Bid / No Bid
A structured decision on whether an opportunity is sufficiently suitable, deliverable and commercially attractive to justify bidding.
Bid Programme
A timetable that plans the tender process backwards from the submission deadline, allocating owners, drafting dates, reviews and approvals.
Call-off Contract
A contract awarded under a framework agreement using the framework’s stated call-off rules.
Carbon Reduction Plan
A document setting out an organisation’s greenhouse gas emissions, net zero commitment, reduction measures and governance.
Clarification
A formal question or response used during a procurement to resolve ambiguity or provide information within the buyer’s published process.
Compliance Matrix
A control document that lists every mandatory requirement, response, attachment, owner and completion status.
Conditions of Participation
Proportionate requirements used to assess whether a supplier has the legal and financial capacity or technical ability to perform a public contract.
Conflict of Interest
A situation where personal, financial or organisational interests could improperly influence, or appear to influence, a procurement decision.
Contract Award Notice
A published notice communicating a contracting authority’s intention to award a public contract to a specified supplier or suppliers under the current regime.
Contract Details Notice
A notice published after a public contract has been entered into, containing prescribed information about the contract.
Contract Performance Notice
A transparency notice used for specified information about a supplier’s performance or serious contractual events under relevant public contracts.
Contracting Authority
A public body or other organisation covered by the applicable procurement rules when purchasing goods, services or works.
Covered Procurement
A procurement to which the main rules for public contracts under the Procurement Act apply, subject to scope, threshold and exemption provisions.
Debarment List
A central list under the Procurement Act regime recording suppliers to which specified exclusion grounds apply following the required process.
Direct Award
The award of a contract without a competitive tendering procedure where a lawful justification and required process apply.
Dynamic Market
A list of qualified suppliers eligible to participate in future procurements, which remains open for new suppliers to apply while it operates.
Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS)
A purchasing system established under earlier procurement legislation that remains relevant for procurements and systems governed by the transitional rules.
Evaluation Methodology
The published approach explaining how tenders will be checked, scored, weighted and compared.
Evidence Library
A controlled collection of verified case studies, performance data, CVs, policies, certificates and supporting records for future bids.
Exclusion Grounds
Mandatory and discretionary circumstances that may require or permit a supplier to be excluded from a procurement.
Expression of Interest
A response indicating that a supplier wishes to be considered for an opportunity or market-engagement exercise.
Find a Tender
The UK’s official service for publishing many public procurement notices and searching relevant opportunities.
Framework Agreement
An agreement establishing terms and rules under which contracts may be awarded to selected suppliers during a defined period.
Framework Lot
A defined part of a framework divided by geography, value, service type, technical specialism or another published basis.
Gateway Requirement
A mandatory pass/fail condition that must be satisfied before a tender can progress to full evaluation or award.
Invitation to Tender (ITT)
The formal set of documents inviting suppliers to submit tenders and explaining the requirements, process, evaluation and contract terms.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
A measurable indicator used to assess whether an important aspect of contract performance is being achieved.
Lotting
The division of a procurement into separate lots so suppliers can compete for defined parts of the requirement.
Material Change
A change to a contract that is significant enough to raise questions about whether a new procurement is required under the applicable rules.
Method Statement
A structured explanation of how a supplier will deliver a specific requirement, including actions, people, controls, evidence and outcomes.
Mini-competition
A competition conducted among eligible framework suppliers under the framework’s call-off rules.
Mobilisation
The controlled period between award and full service delivery when people, systems, supply chain, information and governance are put in place.
Moderation
A controlled process in which evaluators review scoring differences and agree or confirm the final evaluation outcome in accordance with the published method.
Most Advantageous Tender (MAT)
The tender assessed as offering the most advantageous outcome under the published award criteria, which may consider price, quality and wider factors.
Open Procedure
A competitive procedure in which any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to the published opportunity, subject to the procurement documents.
Pipeline Notice
A transparency notice providing advance information about specified planned procurements expected within a future period.
Planned Procurement Notice
An advance notice containing prescribed information about an intended procurement and, where conditions are met, potentially supporting a shorter tendering period.
Preliminary Market Engagement
Engagement undertaken before a tender or transparency notice to help a buyer develop requirements, understand the market and prepare the procurement.
Price–Quality Weighting
The proportion of the total evaluation score allocated to price and quality or other non-price criteria.
Procurement Act 2023
The legislation forming the main public procurement regime for many UK contracting authorities for procurements commenced under it, alongside associated regulations and guidance.
Procurement Policy Note (PPN)
A government policy note giving procurement direction or guidance on a defined topic. Welsh Procurement Policy Notes are commonly abbreviated WPPN.
Procurement Specific Questionnaire
A questionnaire used to obtain procurement-specific supplier information in addition to core supplier information held on the central digital platform or requested elsewhere.
Quality Response
A written answer explaining how a supplier will satisfy a scored non-price requirement.
Request for Quotation (RFQ)
A request for suppliers to provide prices and any required supporting information for a defined requirement, often used for lower-value or simpler purchases.
Risk Register
A controlled record of identified risks, likelihood, impact, mitigation, owner and review status.
Selection Questionnaire
A structured questionnaire used to assess supplier suitability, declarations and capability before or alongside tender evaluation, depending on the applicable regime and process.
Social Value
The additional economic, social, environmental and cultural benefits created through the way a public contract is delivered.
Standstill Period
A pause between the communication or publication of an intended contract award and entering into the contract, where the applicable rules require it.
Subcontractor
A separate organisation engaged by the main supplier to deliver part of the contracted works, services or supply chain.
Tender Notice
A published notice commencing or advertising a competitive procurement and providing access to the opportunity information required by the applicable regime.
Tender Return
The complete set of documents and information submitted by a supplier in response to a tender.
Tendering Period
The period available for suppliers to prepare and submit tenders after the opportunity is issued.
Transparency Notice
A notice published before certain direct awards, explaining that the buyer intends to award a contract directly and setting out prescribed information.
TUPE
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations, which may protect employees when a service or undertaking transfers between employers.
Value for Money
The best overall use of public resources over the relevant life of the requirement, not simply the lowest initial price.
Variant Bid
An alternative solution submitted where the procurement documents expressly permit variants and explain how they will be evaluated.
Welsh Procurement Policy Note (WPPN)
A procurement policy note issued for the Welsh public sector on a defined policy or practice area.
Whole-life Cost
The total cost associated with acquiring, operating, maintaining and disposing of an asset or service over the relevant period.
Word Limit
The maximum number of words permitted for a tender response or section.
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