Practical Law

The law on whether or not it is permissible to impose “living wage” rather than “minimum wage” provisions on contractors performing public contracts has long been an area of controversy (see Practice note, PCR 2006: Sustainable procurement; Workforce matters). The Chancellor announced in his 2015 Budget Speech that there would be new measures to improve … Continue reading “Living wage” provisions in public procurement contracts →

On 26 August 2015, the Cabinet Office and Crown Commercial Service published guidance on the procurement rules relating to “Public/Public Contracts” under the Public Contracts Regulations  2015 (SI 2015/102) (PCR 2015). The guidance summarises the key points of the drafting of regulation 12 PCR 2015 (public contracts between entities in the public sector) and provides … Continue reading An alternative FAQ for public to public contracts: Can a contracting authority trade through a Teckal company? →

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102) (PCR 2015) not only transpose the public sector directive (Directive 2014/24/EU); they also include national provisions to support access to public contracts by SMEs. This blog considers what happens if a contracting authority breaches these purely national rules. Deliberate breach is unlikely, if for no other reason than … Continue reading What exactly are the remedies for breach of the Part 4 public procurement regime? →

Regulation 31 of the new procurement regulations (SI 2015/102) (PCR 2015) introduces a completely new procurement procedure called “innovation partnership” where there is a need for “an innovative product, service or works that cannot be met by (those) … already available on the market” (regulation 31(2)). Generally new procedures are to be welcomed because they … Continue reading Innovation partnership – does it offer a genuine breakthrough? →

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102) (PCR 2015) come into force tomorrow. In this post, John Bennett, co-author of the loose-leaf encyclopedia EU Public Procurement: Law and Practice suggests how practitioners can keep on top of the changes arising from the new regulations.

Enthusiasm for the use of the competitive version of the negotiated procedure (“competitive negotiated”) has varied over time. For those with long memories, it was used extensively until the 2004 directive (Directive 2004/18/EC) restricted its use and introduced the new “competitive dialogue” procedure. It then largely fell out of favour as the UK government and … Continue reading Competitive negotiation under the new draft regulations – a final nail in the coffin? →