Purchasing
- Academy reviews of value for money Academies must include a review of value for money in their annual accounts. Read about the purpose and structure of the review, and see examples from other academy trusts.
- Achieving value for money: guidance and resources Read our advice on getting value for money when paying for goods and services. Find useful links to resources to help you manage your finances effectively.
- Contracts register: template Use our template contracts register to keep a record of all of your school's contracts and service level agreements in 1 place.
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Deciding who should manage procurement in your trust
You need to set the right level of delegation when it comes to procurement, based on what’s right for your trust. Use this guidance to help you decide how centralised your procurement should be, and how to delegate key tasks.
For Trust Leaders
- How to buy goods, works or services As a maintained school or an academy, you have a duty to get the best value for money from any contracts you enter into. Follow our step-by-step procurement guide to make sure you're buying in the right way and complying with the law.
- How to protect a school from payment fraud Learn about what phishing is, what to look out for and how to avoid it in your school. Create a process for paying invoices and use our template to collect new supplier information.
- How to review contracts coming up for renewal Read advice on managing and renewing your school's contracts, including setting up a contracts register. See tips on streamlining and scrutinising services to get the best value.
- Invitations to tender: templates and examples See guidance on invitations to tender (ITT), including when you do and don't need to use them, along with examples from LAs and a school.
- Procurement framework agreements and G-Cloud Get to grips with the benefits of using a framework agreement when buying goods and services for your school, including the government's G-cloud service.
- School catering: improving financial efficiency See guidance from the National Audit Office (NAO) on making your catering offer more financially efficient, and read a case study from a school that saved money by sourcing milk locally.
- Service level agreements: template and examples Download and adapt our service level agreement template. See examples of SLAs used by schools and get guidance on determining the responsibilities of each party.
