Must charities follow public procurement rules?
Possibly. Your organisation's name does not settle the question. For the ordinary public-authority test, public funding or public oversight must be combined with non-commercial operation. Then check the rules for the particular purchase. For factory sourcing support, speak to Cambridge China Bridge.
Assess the buying organisation first
The Cabinet Office uses tests rather than a list of charities, social enterprises or universities. For ordinary purchases outside utilities, an organisation meets the public-authority definition if it is wholly or mainly publicly funded, or subject to public-authority oversight, and does not operate commercially. Excluded authorities need a separate check.
Ask your procurement lead or legal adviser to record the assessment for the legal entity signing the order. Gather accounts, funding agreements, governing documents and the existing procurement policy. Prepare the purchasing brief using the schools and charities approval-pack guide.
Check funding across the organisation
The funding test asks whether the organisation's funding comes entirely or mainly from public funds. It is not simply a question about who pays for this China order. Public funding can come from different sources.
Ask finance to map income sources and explain how each has been classified. Give your adviser the underlying agreements where treatment is uncertain. Separately, read the award letter for purchasing conditions and ask the funder to clarify unclear wording. Keep that review separate from the organisation's statutory-status assessment.
Check actual management and control
Public-authority oversight means management or control by public authorities, or by a board whose membership is more than half appointed by public authorities. Being regulated does not necessarily meet this test.
Collect appointment rights, governing documents and agreements that give another organisation control over decisions. Ask your adviser to distinguish ordinary reporting or regulation from management or control. Do not treat mainly private funding as the end of the assessment: the oversight route is an alternative.
Assess commercial operation as a whole
Non-commercial operation is required under either the funding or oversight route. The Cabinet Office says an organisation's purpose may matter, including a substantial public-interest purpose even where it also has a commercial side. Trading income alone therefore does not settle the assessment.
Describe what the organisation exists to do and how its trading activities support that purpose. Give your adviser evidence of how it operates in practice. Revisit the recorded conclusion if funding or commercial circumstances change rather than relying indefinitely on an earlier status decision.
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Clear the purchasing route before factory commitments
Authority status and contract coverage are separate questions. Covered procurement concerns above-threshold, non-exempt public contracts, while some requirements also apply below threshold. Devolved Scottish authorities generally sit outside this Act, with exceptions for certain cross-border arrangements. Ask your procurement lead to confirm the applicable regime and purchasing route before committing to a supplier.
For a China order, identify the proposed contracting seller, factory, sourcing service and documents needed for evaluation. Ask Cambridge China Bridge, which has its own staff in China, for the agreed factory evidence. Use the procurement risk-register guide to organise concerns and the RFI, RFP and RFQ guide to prepare supplier requests.
Frequently asked questions
Does receiving a public grant make our charity a contracting authority?
A grant alone does not settle it. Assess whether the organisation is wholly or mainly publicly funded, the alternative oversight route, and whether it operates commercially.
Does earning trading income exempt a social enterprise?
Trading income alone is inconclusive. The commercial assessment can include the organisation's purpose and whether it has a substantial public-interest purpose.
Does regulation make our university a public authority?
Not necessarily. Oversight requires management or control, including the qualifying board-appointment route. Ask your adviser to assess the actual powers involved.
Are purchases below the procurement threshold free of rules?
No. Some requirements apply to below-threshold procurement. Ask your procurement lead to confirm the rules for the particular purchase before placing an order.