Public procurement: what a contract award notice lets you know

Public procurement leaves a written trace at every stage: the call for competition, the minutes of the bid opening, the award notice. Each is meant to be published, and each carries information that political commentary almost always skips.

The first thing to read is the procedure. An open tender, a restricted procedure and a direct award do not offer the same competitive guarantees. The share of contracts awarded directly, set against the total, is one of the clearest indicators of the health of a public purchasing system.

The second is the number of bidders. A contract awarded after a single bid was received has not been put to competition, whatever procedure is stated. That figure appears in the minutes and rarely leaves the archive.

The third is the gap between the estimated amount and the awarded amount, then between the awarded amount and what is finally paid after amendments. Amendments are the blind spot of public debate: they are signed once media attention has moved on, and they can shift most of the cost.

LECAP DATA will publish these series as the notices become available, with a reference for every point. Data without a source is not data: it is a claim with figures around it.