Procurement at EA
Source: gov.uk (2025-04-09)

Details of our purchasing arrangements and information for those looking to become a supplier or contractor to the Environment Agency.

Changes to procurement at the Environment Agency

The Procurement Act 2023 is new legislation that will change the way the public sector buys goods and services. It aims to:
- create a simpler and more flexible commercial system
- open up public procurement to new entrants
- take tougher action on underperforming suppliers
- embed transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle
The changes are expected to start on 24 February 2025. They were originally planned to start in October 2024.

The existing legislation will apply until 24 February 2025. After 24 February 2025, it will only apply to procurements and contracts that started before this date. Read our procurement at Defra pages (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-environment-food-rural-affairs/about/procurement#changes-to-procurement-in-defra) for further information.

Our procurement commitment

Our procurement mission statement is to achieve:
- best value
- best practice
- the most sustainable outcome
Tendering for contracts

We use 3 systems to advertise and to manage our contracts.

Contract Finder

Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder) is a free service for businesses, government buyers and the public. This service allows you to search for:
- live contract opportunities across the public sector
- closed tender documentation
- contract awards and contract documents
You can also subscribe to email alerts to receive updates on existing or new items.

Find a Tender service (FTS)

On Find a Tender service (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search) you can find adverts and notices for tenders and contracts.

eCommercial Portal

Atamis (https://defra-family.force.com/s/Welcome) is the online tool we use to contract all of our major purchases over £50,000. A large part of the Defra group uses the portal. Registered suppliers receive information on upcoming opportunities across the Defra group as well as the Environment Agency.

We require all prospective suppliers for these major purchases to register and use Atamis. This is free of charge and it takes only a few minutes to register.

Contact us

You can contact us by emailing xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

We value feedback from existing and prospective suppliers, and always look to improve procurement processes and customer/supplier relationships.

If you are a current or prospective supplier, and would like to provide feedback on our procurement processes, please contact us using the xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx) email address. Any feedback you provide will have no influence whatsoever on your involvement in any future tendering opportunities with Defra, or any other contracting authority. We will always try to address any issues that are raised where we feel we can improve what we do.

Supporting small businesses

The government has set a target for 33% of central government buying to go to small businesses by 2020. We are committed to supporting this target and look to ensure a fair and equal opportunity for all to bid for our contracts. We also encourage our larger suppliers to consider small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in their sub-contracting opportunities.

Sustainability considerations within procurement

In line with the greening government commitments (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greening-government-commitments-targets/greening-government-commitment-targets), we’re committed to:
- reducing the negative impacts of our work
- creating a greener and more sustainable business world
Our commitment to procuring sustainably is embedded within our vision statement and corporate strategy. These outline our sustainable development commitments.

Procurement forms part of our environmental management system. This is accredited to the International Organisation for Standardisation ISO14001 and the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) standards.

Procurement strategy

We have outlined our approach to embedding sustainability in our procurement activity and plan. This is underpinned by a risk based approach. We prioritise our efforts on our top ten high-risk categories, which we have mapped using Procuring the Future’s prioritisation method (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140827110041/http:/sd.defra.gov.uk/advice/public/nsppp/prioritisation-tool/). We were a major contributor to this method and the development of the flexible framework (http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140827110041/http:/sd.defra.gov.uk/advice/public/nsppp/prioritisation-tool/).

We are fully committed to meeting the greening government commitments (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/greening-government-commitments-targets/greening-government-commitment-targets). We also support a range of diversity and equality initiatives such as Race for Opportunity (https://www.bitc.org.uk/) and Stonewall (https://www.stonewall.org.uk/). Our procurement staff support the delivery of our strategy and we have professional procurement staff leading on category strategies for our high risk/high value purchases. Our approach is comprised of the following 6 main elements.

Risk assessment and action

Risk assessment is at the heart of our approach to addressing sustainability in procurement. We encourage early consideration of the risks and opportunities. This approach helps our people to:
- understand the life cycle impacts of purchases
- identify the main risks and opportunities
- focus effort
We translate these into actions that we manage throughout the procurement approach to maximise positive results.

Integration into the procurement process

We fully integrate sustainability into all stages of our procurement cycle, from identifying needs through to contract management. We make our suppliers aware of our commitments early on and we encourage them to present sustainable solutions. We improve our knowledge by sharing information and mandate the use of existing product standards such as government buying standards (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/sustainable-procurement-the-government-buying-standards-gbs). We develop category specific strategies for our high risk purchases.

Supplier management and development

We rely on our suppliers to help us achieve sustainable outcomes by requiring them to be informed and active in their approach to sustainability issues. This is both when carrying out our contracts and managing their own businesses and supply chains. Our supplier development sustainability programme focuses on the environmental and social performance of our main suppliers. We offer advice and encourage our suppliers to adopt sustainable practices for themselves and their supply chains. This provides commercial benefits to them and the wider business community.

We are committed to working with our suppliers to understand and mitigate our negative sustainability impacts and to enhance the positives. We look for our suppliers to lead the way in environmental solutions and social practices.

Sustainable procurement marketing

We promote our commitments and successes internally and externally. This is essential to maintain buy-in from our customers and suppliers, and encourages innovative ways of working. We work closely with organisations such as Defra, the Cabinet Office and the Welsh government to promote sustainable procurement across the public and private sector.

Staff training and awareness

All of our procurement staff:
- have been fully trained in our approach to sustainable procurement
- have sustainable procurement objectives
- use practical application of our risk assessments
Our procurement teams also raise awareness with their local management teams, primary project managers and suppliers.

Maintaining excellence

We continually strive to maintain excellence in our approach to sustainable procurement. We believe that periodic benchmarking of our performance helps to maintain that we are a leader in this field. We have held our EMAS and ISO14001 accreditation for a number of years.

Our commitment to maintaining excellence has been recognised externally. In 2008 we won a prestigious Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply award for our approach to timber procurement. In 2009 we submitted an entry to the European EMAS awards and were successful in winning the:
- UK public administration category
- Public administration category for Europe
Internally we have introduced our own sustainability procurement awards and also host awards with our construction suppliers.

Procurement of important materials

We use a range of materials and have a corporate commitment to:
- reduce the risks associated with our purchases
- carry out sustainability risk assessments on these
These consider the life cycle impacts and opportunities associated with a purchase from raw material to end of life. It does not presume a preference for any material over another. One of the main tools we use to assess the carbon impacts associated with materials used in construction is our carbon calculator.

(https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f5da4e5274a2e8ab4bbe1/LIT_7067.pdf)

Environment Agency carbon calculator tool (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7f5da4e5274a2e8ab4bbe1/LIT_7067.pdf)

PDF, 369 KB, 2 pages

This file may not be suitable for users of assistive technology.

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx). Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Timber

The government’s timber procurement policy requires that all timber and wood-derived products that will be used on the government estate must be from only independently verifiable legal and sustainable sources. This can include from a licensed forest law enforcement, governance and trade partner. The policy also outlines specific details on recycled timber.

Our specific requirements apply to all timber we buy, regardless of the value, quantity or whether we buy it directly or by a contractor working on our behalf. Compliance with the government’s timber procurement policy and our own specific requirements is mandatory. We have strict control measures and corporate targets in place to monitor this. Timber is currently the only material with a specific government procurement policy.

Environment Agency timber procurement policy (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c238840f0b645ba3c6ed6/Environment_Agency_Timber_policy_April2007_updated_2010.pdf) (PDF, 27.7 KB, 1 page)

For more details email Sustainable Procurement Advisor xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

Research into lesser known species of tropical hardwood

We build and maintain coastal and freshwater structures throughout England, many of which incorporate timber. Timber is a renewable resource and an environmentally acceptable choice of construction material if obtained from a recycled source or well managed forests. We have strict controls in place for the use of tropical hardwood. We only use it where its unique properties are identified as an important requirement for a project.

A research project we commissioned on lesser-known species of hardwood timber has generated technical data. This will allow engineers to use a wider range of timbers for marine and freshwater marine construction. This supports more sustainable forestry on a global scale. All of the timbers identified can be sourced from legal and sustainable sources with full chain of custody.

Large procurement projects

Water and environment management framework

Over the next 10 years, we will invest more than £2.5 billion to reduce the risk from river and coastal flooding and to secure social and environmental improvements. Our professional relationships with suppliers will be crucial to delivering these risk reductions and improvements.

Thames Estuary phase I programme

The tidal defences through London, Kent and Essex protect 1.25 million people and £200 billion worth of property value. The Thames Estuary 2100 plan covers the maintenance and improvement of tidal flood risk management structures and assets up to the end of the century.

Terms and conditions

Read the Environment Agency’s current template terms and conditions for goods and services (https://gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-terms-and-conditions-for-goods-and-services), including research and development.

Historic terms and conditions

You can access copies of historic templates if required.

Our previous set of templates can be found on the National Archives (https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20250204225304/https:/www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-terms-and-conditions-for-goods-and-services).

If you received a request for quote before 6 November 2023 for goods and services or before 18 March 2004 for research and development, the following terms may apply:
- EA conditions of contract: goods (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b5493b840f0b6339490daf8/ODT-Conditions-of-Contract-Goods-2018.odt) (ODT, 39.4 KB)
- EA conditions of contract: services (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b54940540f0b6338e417890/ODT-Environment-Agency-Conditions-of-Contract-Services-2018.odt) (ODT, 46.8 KB)
- EA conditions of contract: research and development (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5b549461e5274a3fe0da32e5/ODT-Environment-Agency-conditions-of-contract-research-and-development-2018.odt) (ODT, 38.1 KB)
Identifying the relevant terms

Refer to the request for quote to see which terms and conditions apply.

If you are awarded a contract, you will receive an award letter following the conclusion of the quotation process. This will reference the relevant terms and contain details of the purchase.

If the standard goods and services terms and conditions apply, an order form will also be provided during the quotation process. This form will be finalised at award stage with your details and the bid submitted. You should read the form alongside the terms and conditions, as it provides information you need for each specific purchase. This approach will be the same for research and development contracts from 18 March 2024.

Accepting the terms and conditions

To accept the offer of the contract award and the:
- low value terms and conditions, sign the award letter or accept in writing
- standard goods and services terms and conditions, sign the award letter and the order form
- research and development terms and conditions, sign the award letter for contracts prior to 18 March 2024 and both the award letter and the order form for contracts on or after 18 March 2024
Payment to Environment Agency suppliers

The Environment Agency uses an automated scanning solution to speed up how they review and process invoices.

To help the Environment Agency efficiently process your invoice, please make sure you:
- include a valid Environment Agency purchase order number on your invoice
- indicate the purchase order line number if you are invoicing an item from a multiple line purchase order
- provide a quantity, unit rate, and meaningful description for each unit the Environment Agency is buying (where applicable)
- send an email that is not bigger than 4MB
- format all files as PDFs
- attach all files directly to the email – for example, you should not attach folders
- provide one PDF per invoice – all supporting documentation must be included within the single PDF
- send your invoice to the relevant email address only – do not copy in multiple addresses
- do not send password protected files – these cannot be processed
You can attach multiple invoices to one email, but each invoice must be in a separate PDF.

Submit your invoice by email to xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx)

In exceptional circumstances, suppliers may post invoices to the following address:

Shared Services Connected LimitedEA Procure to PayPO Box 797NewportNP10 8FZ

How we process your personal data

We are changing the way we process your personal data relating to financial transactions when we interact with you. Our services provider Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL) may process some of this data offshore. For more information see Personal data processing: fair processing notice (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-data-processing-fair-processing-notice)

More information

Please contact us by emailing xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).