Market Management

Government currently spends around £220bn on goods and services - that's about £1 in every £4 spent in total by the Exchequer. Departments must maximise the value they achieve from this spend through a variety of approaches.

Departments must engage early and effectively with suppliers to signal demand and stimulate the market, so that markets are able to respond effectively and at an affordable price to Departments' emerging requirements. In particular cases, Departments may need to engage with suppliers to ensure effective competition or to consider long term capacity issues.

The Government's policy on collaborative procurement requires central Government departments and their agencies to commit to a cross government collaborative approach to the procurement of common goods and services.

• Our Policy on Market Management (PDF 36KB)
• Our Policy on Value for Money (PDF, 319KB) 
• Our Policy on Collaboration (PDF, 31KB)
• Our Policy on Contract Management (PDF, 163KB)
• Our Policy on Prompt Payment (PDF, 124KB)  
• Our Policy on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in Public Procurement (PDF, 76KB)  Supplementary Guidance Note (PDF, 100KB)
• Our Policy on eAuctions (PDF, 865KB) 
• Managing Public Money  For guidance on the proper handling of public funds. 

Links to guidance and tools:

• Aggregation - is bigger always better (PDF, 241KB)
• Market Creation and Development (PDF, 158KB)
• Early Market Engagement (PDF, 754 KB) 
• GEMS: Guide to Effective Market Shaping (PDF, 920KB)
• Effective Partnering - an overview for customers and suppliers (PDF, 211KB)
• Increasing Competition and improving long-term capacity planning in the Government Market Place (PDF, 311KB)
• Contracts Database

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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.