Procurement at Planning Inspectorate
Source: gov.uk (2025-01-17)

We provide potential suppliers with information on our procurement activity, processes and contacts. These documents help suppliers understand the process.

The Planning Inspectorate’s Commercial Team is responsible for all procurement for the organisation. Working in partnership with internal stakeholders and our supply chains, we ensure that we have the goods and services needed to deliver our strategic priorities and business plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/planning-inspectorate/about).

What we buy

We buy from over 180 suppliers across a range of products and services, including 4 strategic suppliers to government.

Over the 2023/24 financial year, the Inspectorate spent a total of £21m through external suppliers.

During the same timeframe:
- £16m of spend was channelled through Crown Commercial Service frameworks and £3.4mm through public bodies for services provided by them
- 57% of our spend was paid to micro, small and medium enterprises
- For every £10 of our spend: £5 was spent on digital goods and services, £1 on contingent labour, 89p on travel, 84p on legal advice and 68p on Planning Appeal Decision Suppliers.
- We awarded 86 new contracts
All costs exclude VAT.

How we buy

We ensure equal and fair treatment of suppliers, allowing participation in a competitive procurement process.

Our preference, after relevant due diligence, is to make full use of the Crown Commercial Service (or other) framework agreements. More information about the Crown Commercial Service, its frameworks and how to become a supplier can be found on the Crown Commercial Service website (https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1sucBhDgARIsAFoytUteo93YyRDBluCXuAGAgRCg8V7w-e8uVoS3oPtZcRMWQJT3cjJvnPcaAsrUEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds).

When an existing framework does not meet our needs, we publicise these contract opportunities on the following websites:
- Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder) – the main source of government contract opportunities valued over £10,000, including VAT
- Find a Tender Service (https://www.gov.uk/find-tender) – the UK e-notification service where notices for new procurements are required to be published for goods and services worth over £138,760, including VAT
Contract and supplier relationship management

Once a contract has been awarded, we support the Contract Manager in the relevant business area to manage the contract performance, via effective working relationships with suppliers, to achieve value for money over the duration of the contract.

Planning Appeal Decision Suppliers

We contract with 3rd party suppliers who make planning decisions to help us manage our service demand. We refer to them as Planning Appeal Decisions Suppliers or PADS for short.

Work is offered on a case-by-case basis through a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). Being a PADS is a fantastic opportunity to work at the heart of our organisation, with the flexibility to choose when you work for us, often alongside other work commitments. We are always keen to hear from anyone who wishes to join the DPS to become a PADS.

More information about how to become a PADS to provide these services is on our flexible resource page. (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-planning-inspectorates-flexible-resource)

Social values

The Planning Inspectorate is committed to delivering social value through its commercial activities and supply chains, based around the following themes:
- Covid-19 recovery
- Tackling economic inequality
- Fighting climate change
- Equal opportunity
- Wellbeing
See the procurement policy note (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0620-taking-account-of-social-value-in-the-award-of-central-government-contracts) for more information on taking account of social value in the award of central government contracts.

Spend controls

Cabinet Office spend controls help government departments to reduce/remove unnecessary spend and encourage cross-government collaboration. They apply for specific spend categories above set thresholds. Read information on these controls, when they apply and the thresholds (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cabinet-office-controls).

Contact us

See our page on GOV.UK (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/planning-inspectorate) for information on Freedom of Information requests, media queries and customer services.

Contact the Commercial Team (https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=mN94WIhvq0iTIpmM5VcIjawCa37xCPZIow6WUHxBHWtUQUI3SjdBSTJXSk9ERjVNQVgwRzdJMkJPVS4u)

Careers in Commercial

A career in commercial/procurement is diverse and rewarding and our small, dynamic team embraces this. We advertise vacancies through Civil Service Jobs. You can sign up for updates to find out about future vacancies. We also contract with agencies for commercial contractors and specialists from time-to-time.

Contact the Commercial Team (https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=mN94WIhvq0iTIpmM5VcIjawCa37xCPZIow6WUHxBHWtUQUI3SjdBSTJXSk9ERjVNQVgwRzdJMkJPVS4u) for any queries about working in our team.

Transparency in procurement

We publish the following information: