Equality

Promoting equality through public procurement

Government is committed to promoting a fair and equal society, where everyone has the chance to flourish and achieve their full potential.  A fair and equal society, which makes the best use if its talents, will help the economy perform to its productive potential, even in difficult economic times.

Public procurement, worth around £220 billion a year, provides Government with an opportunity to use its purchasing power to promote equality where possible in the way that we buy goods and services.  Taking account of equality considerations into the procurement process will enable the public sector to deliver better quality public services that meet the needs of its diverse users and communities, thereby increasing the quality of the services and achieving value for money for the taxpayer.

In carrying out their functions, public authorities must comply with their legal obligations under the public sector equality duties.  These duties are know as the Disability Equality Duty, the Gender Equality Duty and the Race Equality Duty and they require public authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination and promote equality of opportunity in relation to disability, gender and race.  Public procurers must consider the relevance of equality-related issues to their individual procurements and where it is assessed as relevant, equality should be reflected as appropriate in the procurement process in a way that is consistent with the EU Procurement Directives and UK Regulations.  This is outlined in the Government's policy on addressing equality issues through public procurement.

• Our Policy on Equality (PDF, 36KB)

In December 2008, OGC published a practical guide for public procurers to help them meet these duties by clarifying how they should be applied to public procurement and illustrating with examples when and how equality-related issues can be incorporated at each stage of the procurement process in a way that is consistent with the EU Procurement Directives and UK Regulations.

• Make Equality Count (PDF, 2MB)

Following the publication of 'Make Equality Count' in 2008, OGC is developing an Equality Toolkit that will provide practical guidance to public procurers on how they can incorporate equality-related considerations in their procurement activities.  The Equality Toolkit is designed to build on OGC's existing guidance to provide more detailed advice to public procurers in a more accessible format.  The Equality Toolkit is designed to be a 'living' tool allowing for new content, for example best practice case studies, any changes in relevant legislation and other material, to be added in the future to ensure that public procurers are provided with up to date advice and guidance on best practice. 

• Equality Toolkit (PDF, 897KB)

OGC has produced a draft of the Equality Toolkit and would welcome your feedback.  If you would like to send your feedback on the draft Equality Toolkit, please complete the feedback form by 12th March 2010.

We would also be interested in receiving any case studies illustrating how equality-related considerations were incorporated into a procurement exercise or through a voluntary arrangement with a supplier.  If you would like to submit a case study for possible inclusion in the Equality Toolkit as it develops, please email these to equalitytoolkit@ogc.gsi.gov.uk

You may find the following material below of some interest:

• Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (Above Threshold) 
• Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (Below threshold)

OGC's Model PQQs provide guidance to public procurers on the kinds of equality-related questions that can be incorporated into pre-qualification questionnaires.  The model PQQs  should be used in conjunction with Make Equality Count.

Under the EU Procurement Directives (and UK Procurement Regulations), public procurers can reserve contracts for supported factories and businesses employing a majority of people with disabilities. Click here for further details on how to reserve contracts and supported employment.'

The Equality Bill
The Equality Bill was introduced in Parliament on 24th April 2009.  It contains a provision for a new Single Equality Duty, which brings together the existing public sector duties on disability, gender and race and extends to also covers age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment. 

The general Equality Duty is set out in the Bill itself and will require public bodies to have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful conduct, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations across all of these strands.  There will be specific duties, which will be set out in secondary legislation following Royal Assent of the Equality Bill, aimed at helping public authorities to meet their obligations under the general duty.

The Bill contains a clause with an order making power which allows specific duties to be imposed by Ministers in relation to the procurement activities of contracting authorities.

On 11 June 2009, Government launched a public consultation on its proposals for specific duties, including those relating to contracting authorities' public procurement activities. Further details on the consultation (including its proposals) and details on how you can input, can be found on the Government Equalities Office website http://www.equalities.gov.uk/equality_bill.aspx.

The consultation closed on 30th September 2009 and Government are analysing responses recived to this consultation.

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If you are looking for a specific document or guidance on a specific topic you can use the search engine at the top of this page. For further information or guidance please contact the OGC Service Desk on 0845 0004999.

Related Resources:
Guidance on Article 19 - reserving contracts for supported businesses

British Association for Supported Employment (BASE) Website & On-line Directory

Government Equalities Office (GEO)

Equality and Human Rights Commission Website

CBI case study report: Promoting Diversity in Public Procurement