Legalize / United Kingdom / Statutory-Instrument

The Procurement Regulations 2024

Type Statutory-Instrument

Publication 2024-05-22

State In force

Department King's Printer of Acts of Parliament

Source legislation.gov.uk

Reform history JSON API PDF

Made: 22nd May 2024

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1

The Minister for the Cabinet Office makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 9(2), 33(8), 69(4), 95(1), (2) and (3), 97(1) and (2), 113(1), 115(1), 120(1), 121(1) and (2), 122(3) and 125(1) and (2) of, and paragraph 5(1) of Schedule 1 to, the Procurement Act 2023[^f00001].

These Regulations are made with the consent of the Department of Finance for Northern Ireland in accordance with section 113(4) of the Procurement Act 2023.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office has consulted the following persons on the provision contained in regulation 48 in accordance with section 121(3) of the Procurement Act 2023—

persons appearing to the Minister to represent the views of private utilities, and

such other persons as the Minister considers appropriate.

A draft of this instrument has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament pursuant to section 122(4) of the Procurement Act 2023.

Part 1 — Introductory

Citation and commencement

1

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Procurement Regulations 2024.

(2) These Regulations, except regulation 48, come into force at the same time at which section 11 of the Procurement Act 2023 comes into force for any purpose[^f00002].

(3) Regulation 48 comes into force on the day after the day on which these Regulations are made.

Extent and application

2

(1) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, subject to paragraph (2).

(2) Regulation 43 extends to England and Wales only.

(3) Part 5 makes provision about how Parts 2 and 3 apply in relation to Wales and Scotland.

Interpretation

3

In these Regulations[^f00003]—

“CA 2006” means the Companies Act 2006[^f00004];

“CPV code” means a code used in the Common Procurement Vocabulary as adopted by Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 5 November 2002 on the Common Procurement Vocabulary[^f00005].

“PA 2023” means the Procurement Act 2023.

Part 2 — Transparency of procurements under the Procurement Act 2023

Interpretation of Part 2

4

In this Part—

“alternative online system” has the meaning given by regulation 5 (10);

“central digital platform” has the meaning given by regulation 5 (2);

the “Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership” means the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, signed at Santiago on 8 March 2018, including the Accession Protocol of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, signed at Auckland and Bandar Seri Begawan on 16 July 2023[^f00006], as amended from time to time;

“contract subject-matter” has the meaning given by regulation 14;

“contracting authority information” has the meaning given by regulation 13;

“core supplier information” has the meaning given by regulation 6 (9);

“geographical classification” has the meaning given by regulation 14 (2);

the “GPA” means Agreement on Government Procurement signed at Marrakesh on 15 April 1994[^f00007], as amended from time to time;

“PSC register” means the register that a company is required to keep under section 790M of the CA 2006 (register of people with significant control over a company);

“unique identifier” has the meaning given by regulation 8.

Publication of notices etc on central digital platform

5

(1) A notice, document or information which is published or given in accordance with a provision of the PA 2023 listed in paragraph (3) must be published or given by publishing it on the central digital platform.

(2) The “central digital platform” is the online system established by the Minister for the Cabinet Office and which may be accessed on www.gov.uk[^f00008].

(3) The provisions are—

(a) section 15(1) (planned procurement notices)[^f00009],

(b) section 17(1)(a) (preliminary market engagement notices),

(d) section 24(4) (refining award criteria), in respect of republishing tender notices only,

(e) section 31(5) (modifying a section 19 procurement), in respect of republishing tender notices only,

(f) section 39(2) (dynamic market notices: intention to establish a dynamic market)[^f00010],

(g) section 39(3) (dynamic market notices: establishment of a dynamic market),

(h) section 39(4) (dynamic market notices: modifications to a dynamic market),

(i) section 39(5) (dynamic market notices: cessation of a dynamic market),

(j) section 44(1) (transparency notices),

(k) section 50(1) (contract award notices),

(l) section 52(3) (key performance indicators),

(m) section 53(1) (contract details notices),

(n) section 53(3) (copies of contracts),

(o) section 55(2) (procurement termination notices),

(p) section 69(1) (payments compliance notices),

(q) section 71(2)(b) (contract performance: information relating to the assessment of performance against key performance indicators),

(r) section 71(5) (contract performance: breach of public contract or failure to perform),

(s) section 75(1) (contract change notices),

(t) section 75(5) (contract change notices: modifications taken together),

(u) section 77(1) (contract modifications),

(v) section 80(1) (contract termination notices),

(w) section 87(1) (below-threshold tender notices),

(x) section 87(3) (contract details notices following notifiable below-threshold contracts),

(y) section 93(2) (pipeline notices), and

(z) section 94(3) (information being withheld).

(4) The requirement in paragraph (1) to publish or give a notice, document or information by publication on the central digital platform is met where the contracting authority has submitted the notice, document or information to the platform and—

(a) the Minister for the Cabinet Office has informed the contracting authority that the notice, document or information has successfully been submitted to the platform, or

(b) the notice, document or information is capable of being accessed by suppliers and members of the public on the platform.

(5) If the central digital platform is unavailable, or all of the conditions in paragraph (6) are met, the contracting authority may publish or give the notice, document or information by publishing the notice, document or information on an alternative online system and in doing so the authority is to be treated as meeting for the time being the requirement in paragraph (1).

(6) The conditions are that—

(a) in the case of a notice mentioned in paragraph (7), no less than 4 hours have passed since the notice was submitted to the central digital platform,

(b) in the case of any other notice, document or information, no less than 48 hours have passed since the notice, document or information was submitted to the platform,

(c) the contracting authority has not received confirmation from the Minister for the Cabinet Office that the notice, document or information has successfully been published on the platform, and

(d) the notice, document or information is not capable of being accessed by members of the public on the platform.

(7) The notice is a transparency notice[^f00011], contract award notice or contract details notice relating to—

(a) the direct award of a public contract pursuant to regulations made under section 42 of the PA 2023 (direct award to protect life, etc), or

(b) the direct award of a public contract pursuant to paragraphs 13 and 14 of Schedule 5 to the PA 2023 (urgency).

(8) The contracting authority is no longer to be treated as meeting for the time being the requirement in paragraph (1) if the Minister for the Cabinet Office informs the contracting authority that the submission of the notice, document or information to the central digital platform has been rejected.

(9) A contracting authority which uses an alternative online system in accordance with paragraph (5) must cooperate with the Minister for the Cabinet Office to ensure that the notice, document or information in question is subsequently—

(a) published on the central digital platform, and

(b) capable of being accessed by members of the public on the platform.

(10) An “alternative online system” is an online system for publishing procurement information which is—

(a) free of charge and capable of being accessed by suppliers and members of the public,

(b) accessible to people with disabilities, and

(11) Nothing in this regulation prevents a contracting authority from publishing the notice, document or information other than on the central digital platform or an alternative online system but the authority must not do so before publishing the notice, document or information on that platform or system.

Sharing core supplier information through central digital platform

6

(1) This regulation applies to a contracting authority where a supplier gives core supplier information to the authority during a procedure listed in paragraph (2) with a view to the award of a public contract.

(2) The procedures are—

(a) an open procedure[^f00012],

(b) a competitive flexible procedure,

(d) a competitive selection process for frameworks under section 46 of the PA 2023.

(3) If the core supplier information is given during an open procedure or a competitive flexible procedure, the contracting authority must obtain confirmation from the supplier that the supplier has taken the steps set out in paragraph (5) before the end of the tendering period.

(4) If the core supplier information is given before a direct award under section 41 or 43 of the PA 2023, or during a competitive selection process for frameworks under section 46 of that Act, the contracting authority must obtain confirmation from the supplier that the supplier has taken the steps set out in paragraph (5) before the award of the public contract.

(5) The steps are—

(a) the supplier has registered on the central digital platform,

(b) the supplier has submitted its up-to-date core supplier information to that platform, and

(c) the supplier has given that up-to-date core supplier information to the contracting authority by means of a facility provided on that platform for the purpose of sharing core supplier information.

(6) Paragraph (7) applies where—

(a) a supplier has given up-to-date core supplier information to a contracting authority during a procedure listed in paragraph (2), and

(b) the supplier’s core supplier information subsequently changes and the supplier gives updated or corrected core supplier information to the contracting authority before the award of the public contract.

(7) The contracting authority must obtain a further confirmation from the supplier that the supplier has taken the steps set out in paragraph (8) before the award of the public contract.

(8) The steps are—

(a) the supplier has submitted the updated or corrected core supplier information to the central digital platform, and

(b) the supplier has given the updated or corrected core supplier information to the contracting authority by means of a facility provided on that platform for the purpose of sharing core supplier information.

(9) In these Regulations “core supplier information” means—

(a) the supplier’s basic information set out in regulation 9,

(b) the supplier’s economic and financial standing information set out in regulation 10,

(d) the supplier’s exclusion grounds information set out in regulation 12.

(10) In this regulation “tendering period” has the meaning given by section 54(5) of the PA 2023.

(11) In this regulation a reference to a facility provided on the central digital platform includes a reference to a facility to download information to be forwarded on to a contracting authority by a supplier.

(12) This regulation is subject to regulation 7.

Core supplier information: platform not working, urgency, private utilities

7

(1) Where, in respect of core supplier information given during an open procedure or a competitive flexible procedure, a contracting authority cannot obtain confirmation from the supplier that the supplier has taken the steps in regulation 6(5) before the end of the tendering period due to the reason in paragraph (2), paragraph (3) applies.

(2) The reason is that the supplier could not reasonably register on, submit information to, or use a facility for giving information through, the central digital platform because that platform was not working properly during any period before the end of the tendering period.

(3) The contracting authority must obtain confirmation from the supplier that the supplier has taken the steps set out in regulation 6(5) as soon as practicable and in any event before the award of the contract.

(4) Paragraph (4A) applies in the case of—

(a) a direct award of a public contract pursuant to regulations made under section 42 of the PA 2023 (direct award to protect life, etc), or

(b) a direct award of a public contract pursuant to paragraphs 13 and 14 of Schedule 5 to the PA 2023 (urgency).

(4A) Regulation 6 is to be read as if—

(a) the reference in paragraph (4) to the contracting authority obtaining confirmation before the award of the public contract were a reference to the authority obtaining confirmation as soon as practicable and in any event before the date when the contract details notice is published, and

(b) paragraphs (6) to (8) were omitted.

(5) Regulation 6 does not apply to a private utility in the case of a direct award of a public contract pursuant to paragraphs 13 and 14 of Schedule 5 to the PA 2023 (urgency).

Unique identifiers and exemption from publishing them on alternative online system

8

(1) In these Regulations, “unique identifier” means—

(a) in the case of a procurement, the unique code allocated by the central digital platform when the first notice relating to the procurement is published on that platform, other than in the circumstances set out in paragraph (b),

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