The General Principles of Transparency in Public Procurement were published in March 2015 and updated in February 2017, which assume that contractual information will be made public (except in relation to trade secrets such as prices, intellectual property and business plans). [21] Tenders advertised by public bodies in the UK must be published by law on the following websites: As mentioned above, the social value model introduced by PPN 06/20 requires the assessment of key ESG issues in uk public procurement from 1 January 2021. However, while the social value model is applied in the evaluation phase (i.e. when focusing on the bid), PPN 06/21 is applied in the previous selection phase (i.e. when focusing on the bidder). PPN 06/21 therefore appears to blur the distinction between the selection and assessment stages and promote environmental concerns throughout the award of contracts. It remains to be seen whether more emphasis will be placed on the S(ocial) and G(surnance) factors during the previous selection phase (e.g. B with regard to modern slavery obligations, business and human rights reporting obligations). Details of central government tenders and contracts, including those of the National Archives, will be published in the contract search tool. Following wto approval on 7 October 2020, the United Kingdom joined the GPA as an independent member as of 1 January 2021.

The GPA – which we discussed earlier in a previous warning – is a voluntary trade agreement within the WTO in which signatory parties grant foreign suppliers access to their government procurement markets. Maintaining membership gives UK suppliers access to a £1.3 trillion international market made up of EU government procurement as well as other markets (such as the US, Japan and South Korea). Contracts Finder allows you to search for information on contracts worth more than £10,000 with the government and its agencies. This is a fast turnaround based on the council of ministers` consultation on its Green Paper on the transformation of public procurement, which we discussed in a previous blog post and was only completed in March 2021. The Government Procurement Regulations 2015 stipulate that public sector buyers must pay prime contractors within 30 days and ensure that all subcontracts throughout the supply chain contain a similar provision. In 2014-2015, at least 33 NHS trusts paid less than half of their commercial bills on time, compared to 23 in 2015-2016 and 11 in 2014-2015. According to the Better Payment Practice Code, they must pay at least 95% of non-NHS invoices within 30 days. [26] Although the Cabinet Office has not yet analysed the responses to the consultation and has not yet published the results or other proposed measures, the inclusion of the Public Procurement Act in the UK`s legislative agenda means that the government has already decided to move forward with plans to differentiate the UK public procurement system from the current regime on the basis of EU rules.

This is not really a surprise, especially since government ministers regularly refer to EU public procurement rules as « complex » and « rigid ». Already in the ministerial foreword to the Green Paper, Lord Agnew, Minister of State for the Cabinet Office, describes the EU regime as « outdated » and « stuck in bureaucratic and process-oriented procedures ». The UK government announced Brexit as a « historic opportunity to reform our obsolete public procurement markets ». With the UK government buying nearly £300 billion worth of goods and services from the private sector every year, businesses in the UK and around the world will have to consider how the new regime will affect them. To what extent will the public procurement process in the UK really change? The CRP does not replace existing reports or calculations of the organization`s carbon footprint. However, the « technical standard » for creating a CRP requires the bidder to indicate its current carbon footprint and commitment to achieve « net zero » carbon emissions by 2050. For complex contracts (p.B those involving several parties in a consortium), all parties must complete a CRP and the parties must carefully consider the allocation of responsibility for verification and reliance on the data of others when submitting a bid. The Green Paper proposes changes to these procurement procedures, including: The Defence and Security Government Procurement Regulations 2011 apply to defence procurement. The Government Commercial Function (GCF) is an intergovernmental network that purchases or supports the purchase of goods and services for the government.

The Government Trade Organization (GCO), which sits in the GCF, is the employer of high-level commercial professionals (from grade 7) and consists of 250 high-level commercial specialists. Approximately 4,000 public servants who support or support the purchase of goods and services for the government make up the GCF alongside senior OCG professionals. [41] The new UK regime will consolidate many existing public procurement rules to create a single and unique framework, including defence procurement. The UK government hopes that this framework will be faster, simpler and better able to meet the country`s needs while respecting its international obligations. In Northern Ireland, the Central Purchasing Directorate within the Department of Finance (formerly the Department of Finance and Personnel) is responsible for procurement policy. On 16 May 2002, a revised public procurement policy was adopted for departments, agencies, non-ministerial public bodies and public bodies in Northern Ireland; [32] The latest version (version 11) was released in August 2014. [33] On 1 June 2001, the UK Government and the Northern Ireland Executive agreed on a Public Procurement Arrangement for the treatment of European, international and political issues in the field of public procurement. [34] In Scotland, the Government Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2015 [35] and 2016 [36] apply. The Public Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 requires contracting authorities to consider whether to impose Community performance requirements on contractors applying for contracts worth more than GBP 4 000 000. [37] Subsequently, on 3 June 2021, a « National Public Procurement Policy Statement » was published, stating that public procurement « should be used to support priority national and local outcomes for the benefit of the general public » to ensure the creation of new businesses, jobs and skills, waste reduction, climate action, supplier diversity, resilience and innovation. This declaration set out national priorities in terms of social value, trade and procurement, and skills and abilities to succeed in government procurement, and the Government announced its intention to introduce legislation to ensure that: As part of the transparency agenda, the Government has made the following procurement and procurement commitments: Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own public procurement websites.

The UK government requires all departments and their affiliated organisations to meet the mandatory minimum standards for the purchase of goods and services when purchasing goods and services. Public sector organisations at large are also encouraged to set mandatory minimum standards in their calls for tenders. [29] It is important to make available to contracting authorities a spin-off where a net zero obligation would not be linked to the contract or disproportionate to the contract. While the NPP recognizes that the requirements are likely to be relevant for the majority of contracts that meet the assessment threshold, it is clearly expected that some contracts will escape the compliance burden. The NPS Guidelines provide two examples (not exhaustive), although it remains to be seen what other justifications may arise: The Crown Commercial Service (CSC) occasionally publishes procurement policy notes that advise public sector procurement staff on government policy development and procurement best practices. [16] In March 2020, the Guidance Documents on the Response to the Coronavirus Pandemic 2019-2020 [17] were published and remained in force until 31 October 2020, allowing public bodies to make initial payments and withhold payments for contracts interrupted by measures taken to contain the spread of the coronavirus. .