Procurement at Home Office
Source: gov.uk (2025-10-01)

Details of Home Office purchasing arrangements and information for those looking to become a supplier or contractor.

The Home Office is committed to conducting its commercial activities in a fair, open and transparent manner. We engage with a wide range of local, national and international organisations, spanning from small enterprises to large corporations.

Where appropriate, contracts are awarded through competitive tendering. Exceptions to this approach are only made where there are compelling and justified reasons.

Procurement opportunities are published on the UK’s e-notification platform, the Find a Tender Service (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search). This portal also hosts our commercial pipeline notices, offering suppliers visibility of upcoming opportunities.

To support supplier engagement, we may also issue preliminary market engagement notices for contracts that will be formally advertised in the near future. These notices help suppliers prepare for future tenders and encourage early dialogue.

How to become a supplier

Opportunities to become a regular supplier can be found by registering on the Find a Tender Service (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search).

The Home Office contracts with its suppliers using standard contracts (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ppn-013-using-standard-contracts).

Transparency in procurement

Details of our contract documents can be found on the Find a Tender or Contracts Finder website (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder).

Improving opportunities for new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals

The government recognises the important role of new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) and mutuals in delivering against the government’s industrial and civil society strategies.

In the Home Office, we support and encourage a diverse range of suppliers to bid for departmental contracts and we monitor the level of business SMEs receive from us directly (by winning contracts) or indirectly (by winning contracts with prime contractors or further down supply chains).

Examples of the types of goods and services we buy to support the aims of the Home Office include:
- storage and disposal of seized goods from the borders
- passport printing and delivery
- accommodation and support services for asylum seekers
- digital services at the borders
- biometric identification services to the police and immigration services
Many of our IT and digital contract opportunities, for example, are advertised through existing Crown Commercial Service (CCS) framework agreements. You would need to be accepted onto the framework to hear about them. To access these agreements you would need to register on the CCS eSourcing tool.

In addition, the Home Office has set up the Joint Security and Resilience Centre (JSaRC) to be a flexible capability where government and the security sector can work in partnership to respond to both urgent and longer term threats to UK national security.

JSaRC also has an objective to support the growth of the security sector wherever possible. JSaRC will act as the ‘front door’ for the security sector, particularly for new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals, to access the complex security machinery of government.

It will be government’s primary means of:
- coordinating sector support
- refining requirements
- understanding the sector offer
- sharing strategic priorities
If you feel that you have a security offering which may be of interest to JSaRC please contact us at xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

The Home Office also works with the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI). SBRI can support us where we have an unclear requirement but need support from industry to develop this further. SBRI can fund the research and development required to reach a solution. You can read further information about SBRI (https://www.ukri.org/what-we-do/browse-our-areas-of-investment-and-support/innovate-uk-contracts-for-innovation/) including live competitions from across government.

Read the Home Office SME Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/home-office-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises-smes-action-plan) to find out more about how we work with SMEs. To find out if your company is defined as an SME, you can read the definition on the European Commission website (https://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/sme-definition_en).

If you have any further questions regarding the Home Office SME approach they can be directed to our dedicated SME enquiries mailbox: xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

Read the Home Office VCSE Action Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/voluntary-community-and-social-enterprises-action-plan/home-office-voluntary-community-and-social-enterprises-action-plan) to learn more about our objectives for supporting VCSEs and how we will contribute to the government’s growth ambition.

If you have any further questions regarding the Home Office SME approach they can be directed to our dedicated VCSE enquiries mailbox at xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

SME case studies

We value the expertise and innovations which SMEs can bring to the Home Office supply chain. Read some examples of contracts awarded to SMEs (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/small-and-medium-enterprises-home-office-actions-and-case-studies).

For further information on the government’s commitment to support start-ups and small businesses through government procurement visit the Small and Medium Business Hub (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/small-and-medium-business-hub). Additionally, the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Network provides a link between local authority and businesses to encourage upskilling and job creation.

Crown Representative for SMEs and VCSEs

In addition to the Crown Representatives (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/strategic-suppliers) and government’s strategic suppliers, there is a Crown Representative whose focus is removing barriers to SMEs across government.

Doing business with government: guide for SMEs (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/doing-business-with-government-a-guide-for-smes) provides support for SMEs on bidding for government contracts.

There is also a Crown Representative who champions the role that Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) can play in delivering public services. VCSEs: A guide to working with government (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/vcses-a-guide-to-working-with-government) provides support for VCSEs on bidding for government contracts.

Social value in procurement

The Home Office practises social value procurement to help communities:
- create resilient businesses and opportunities for quality employment and skills development improve innovation and supply chain resilience
- tackle climate change and reduce waste
- support improvements to improve mental health and wellbeing inequalities impacting our communities
- reduce domestic abuse crimes and support victims
We use our procurement and contract management activities to encourage positive social value behaviour.

We adhere to the Public Services (Social Value) Act (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-value-act-information-and-resources) and Social Value Model which requires commissioners who procure services to embed social value benefits within their commercial agreements.

We have developed our own Social Value Strategy, Plan and terms and conditions, which supports the Model Services and Mid-Tier standard contracts and are only used for Home Office procurements with an annual value above £5m.

Information security

The Home Office places information security as one of its highest priorities, therefore information assurance is built into the procurement process through the Third-Party Assurance process.

Dependent on the nature of the procurement and information security risks involved, suppliers will need to demonstrate compliance to best practice security standards such as Cyber Essentials or ISO27001. As part of the assurance process, suppliers may be asked to complete on online self-assessment questionnaire called ‘Mercury’ to understand the suppliers’ security controls and in some cases, an audit may be required, prior to contract award.

On completion of assurance, suppliers will receive recommendations on further improvements and Home Office will continue to maintain information security assurance with the supplier.

You can read more information in the Supplier Security Guidance document (provided on request), and find out more about Cyber Essentials on the Cyber Essentials Scheme overview (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cyber-essentials-scheme-overview) page.

eSourcing

The Home Office uses the Jaggaer eSourcing Portal (https://homeoffice.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html), which provides a suite of web-based tools that enable our procurement professionals and suppliers to conduct the strategic activities of the procurement lifecycle over the internet.

It provides an efficient, simple, security accredited and compliant means for managing tendering activities, reducing the time and effort required for both buyers and suppliers.

The eSourcing portal enables users to:
- register and express an interest in a procurement opportunity
- participate in tendering activities, downloading, completing and submitting proposals
No purchase order, no payment: how to ensure your invoice is not rejected

The Home Office and Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) require all suppliers to only accept requests for goods or services in the form of a valid purchase order which will be sent by email.

A valid purchase order

PO Reference: A valid purchase order is nine characters long and begins with HME for Home Office orders and DBS for DBS orders, for example HME654321 or DBS123456 and states the following:
- To: the name and address of the supplier
- Ship To: the name and address the goods or services should be delivered to
- Order Contact: the name and address of the person that raised the purchase order
- Send Invoice To: the name and address of our Shared Service Centre, where all invoices must be sent
Invoices quoting the relevant purchase order number, should be issued as soon as possible after the goods have been dispatched or the services provided. The invoice must be emailed to the “Send Invoice To” email address shown on the purchase order. Invoices submitted without quoting a valid purchase order number will be rejected causing payment to be delayed.

Invoices/credit notes should be submitted via email in pdf, tiff, jpeg or png format, Excel is not supported.

Multiple invoices can be attached to one email up to a maximum size of 5Mb.

Each invoice must be in an individual email attachment. A multipage invoice should also be submitted as a single email attachment. zip files or any files that are password protected/encrypted cannot be processed.

Any text in the body of your email, or any attachments submitted in file formats other than those listed above, cannot be read.

Other things which may cause payment to be delayed include:
- using prices, quantities or descriptions that differ from the purchase order
- sending invoices to the Home Office instead of our Shared Service Centre
- submitting invoices which exceed the total of the purchase order
Summary

Wait for an emailed purchase order before providing goods or services.

Quote the purchase order number on your invoice – all invoices submitted for payment must include a valid purchase order number.

Email your invoice to our Shared Service Centre for payment.

Invoicing the Home Office

Home Office invoices should be sent to:

xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

Or by post to:

Home Office Shared ServicesPO Box 5015SSCLPhoenix HouseNewportNP10 8FZ

Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) invoices should be sent to:

xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

Disclosure & Barring Service Shared ServicesDBS Box 5112Phoenix HouseSpooner CloseCoedkernewNewportNP10 8FZ

Any authorised request for goods or services from the Home Office or DBS will be in the form of a purchase order. Suppliers should not provide goods or services unless a valid purchase order has been received.

Contact us

All payment queries should be emailed to xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) or call xx-xxxx-xxxx.