The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 – Essentials in a Few Seconds

02/03/2015

The Public Procurement Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") came into force on 26 February 2015 across England, Northern Ireland and Wales.  

Implementing the European Union Public Sector Procurement Directive (Directive 2014/24), the Regulations are seen as an opportunity for procurement professionals to have access to clear and unambiguous rules which will open up negotiation and innovation opportunities with suppliers and cut red tape associated with public service procurement.

This blog aim to highlight the main changes you need to be aware of.

Part 4 of the Regulations incorporates the Lord Young Reforms and set out to meet the government’s objective of purchasing goods and services from SMEs.

Changes that will benefit SMEs competing for government contracts after 26^th February 2015 include:

• requiring payment of undisputed invoices within 30 days (r.113)

• abolishing pre-qualification questionnaires for low value public sector contracts (r.111) 

• requiring the public sector to publish its contracts on Contracts Finder (r.112).

The new regime will replace Part A and Part B distinction within the 2006 Regulations.  If a contract is valued at over €750,000 then there must be an advertisement posted in the OJEU as well as compliance with all EU anti-discrimination and equality requirements.  The contract can also be awarded on factors other than price, such as quality and the level of innovation offered.

Any health service contracts valued at under €750,000 will not be covered by the Regulations as they will be seen to have little or no cross-border interest.

Central government contracts valued at over £10,000 and sub-central government contracts valued at over £25,000 must be noted in the Contracts Finder if they are advertised, along with notice of the eventual award of the contract.  The Regulations clarify that this includes ‘contractual opportunities’.  This means that any requirements that have not yet crystallised into a contract, such as a prior information notice, will need to be advertised under the Regulations.

A new Innovation Partnership Procedure has been introduced.  If a public body has a need for an innovative product, service or works that cannot be met by purchasing products, services or works already available on the market, they can engage with a number of ‘partners’ during the competitive tender process and pay them contractually for work undertaken during the competition for the tender to develop innovative solutions prior to the contract being awarded.  This could provide a great opportunity for smaller suppliers to get a foot in the door.

A new Competitive Procedure with Negotiation (r.29) has been introduced which includes a right to request initial and subsequent tender submissions.

Other changes include extensions on the grounds for exclusion clause (to include offences under the Serious Crimes Act 2007 and the Counter Terrorism Act 2008).  They also provide the flexibility for government bodies to be able to modify certain aspects of the contract without having to launch a new procurement procedure.

To find out more about how these Regulations will affect your business please phone us on 0207 993 6917 to talk to one of our team.

If you have any thoughts on the new Regulations please feel free to comment in the section below.