Procurement Act 2023

1. Introductory Text

2. PART 1 Key definitions

   1. 1. Procurement and covered procurement

   2. 2. Contracting authorities

   3. 3. Public contracts

   4. 4. Valuation of contracts

   5. 5. Mixed procurement: above and below threshold

   6. 6. Utilities contracts

   7. 7. Defence and security contracts

   8. 8. Concession contracts

   9. 9. Light touch contracts

   10. 10. Mixed procurement: special regime contracts

3. PART 2 Principles and objectives

   1. 11. Covered procurement only in accordance with this Act

   2. 12. Covered procurement: objectives

   3. 13. The national procurement policy statement

   4. 14. The Wales procurement policy statement

4. PART 3 Award of public contracts and procedures

   1. CHAPTER 1 Preliminary steps

      1. 15. Planned procurement notices

      2. 16. Preliminary market engagement

      3. 17. Preliminary market engagement notices

      4. 18. Duty to consider lots

   2. CHAPTER 2 Competitive award

      1. Terms of a procurement

         1. 19. Award of public contracts following a competitive tendering procedure

         2. 20. Competitive tendering procedures

         3. 21. Tender notices and associated tender documents

         4. 22. Conditions of participation

         5. 23. Award criteria

         6. 24. Refining award criteria

         7. 25. Sub-contracting specifications

      2. Exclusions and modifications

         1. 26. Excluding suppliers from a competitive award

         2. 27. Excluding suppliers from a competitive flexible procedure

         3. 28. Excluding suppliers by reference to sub-contractors

         4. 29. Excluding a supplier that is a threat to national security

         5. 30. Excluding suppliers for improper behaviour

         6. 31. Modifying a section 19 procurement

      3. Reserving contracts to certain suppliers

         1. 32. Reserving contracts to supported employment providers

         2. 33. Reserving contracts to public service mutuals

      4. Awarding contracts by reference to dynamic markets

         1. 34. Competitive award by reference to dynamic markets

         2. 35. Dynamic markets: establishment

         3. 36. Dynamic markets: membership

         4. 37. Dynamic markets: removing members from the market

         5. 38. Dynamic markets: fees

         6. 39. Dynamic market notices

         7. 40. Qualifying utilities dynamic market notices: no duty to publish a tender notice

   3. CHAPTER 3 Direct award

      1. 41. Direct award in special cases

      2. 42. Direct award to protect life, etc

      3. 43. Switching to direct award

      4. 44. Transparency notices

   4. CHAPTER 4 Award under frameworks

      1. 45. Frameworks

      2. 46. Frameworks: competitive selection process

      3. 47. Frameworks: maximum term

      4. 48. Frameworks: implied terms

      5. 49. Open frameworks

   5. CHAPTER 5 After award, standstill periods and notices

      1. 50. Contract award notices and assessment summaries

      2. 51. Standstill periods on the award of contracts

      3. 52. Key performance indicators

      4. 53. Contract details notices and publication of contracts

   6. CHAPTER 6 General provision about award and procedures

      1. Time limits and termination

         1. 54. Time limits

         2. 55. Procurement termination notices

      2. Technical specifications

         1. 56. Technical specifications

      3. Excluding suppliers

         1. 57. Meaning of excluded and excludable supplier

         2. 58. Considering whether a supplier is excluded or excludable

      4. Debarment

         1. 59. Notification of exclusion of supplier

         2. 60. Investigations of supplier: exclusion grounds

         3. 61. Investigations under section 60: reports

         4. 62. Debarment list

         5. 63. Debarment decisions: interim relief

         6. 64. Debarment list: application for removal

         7. 65. Debarment decisions: appeals

         8. 66. Debarment proceedings and closed material procedure

5. PART 4 Management of public contracts

   1. Terms implied into public contracts

      1. 67. Electronic invoicing: implied term

      2. 68. Implied payment terms in public contracts

   2. Notices about payments and performance

      1. 69. Payments compliance notices

      2. 70. Information about payments under public contracts

      3. 71. Assessment of contract performance

   3. Sub-contracting

      1. 72. Sub-contracting: directions

      2. 73. Implied payment terms in sub-contracts

   4. Modifying public contracts

      1. 74. Modifying a public contract

      2. 75. Contract change notices

      3. 76. Voluntary standstill period on the modification of contracts

      4. 77. Publication of modifications

   5. Terminating public contracts

      1. 78. Implied right to terminate public contracts

      2. 79. Terminating public contracts: national security

      3. 80. Contract termination notices

6. PART 5 Conflicts of interest

   1. 81. Conflicts of interest: duty to identify

   2. 82. Conflicts of interest: duty to mitigate

   3. 83. Conflicts assessments

7. PART 6 Below-threshold contracts

   1. 84. Regulated below-threshold contracts

   2. 85. Regulated below-threshold contracts: procedure

   3. 86. Regulated below-threshold contracts: duty to consider small and medium-sized enterprises

   4. 87. Regulated below-threshold contracts: notices

   5. 88. Regulated below-threshold contracts: implied payment terms

8. PART 7 Implementation of international obligations

   1. 89. Treaty state suppliers

   2. 90. Treaty state suppliers: non-discrimination

   3. 91. Treaty state suppliers: non-discrimination in Scotland

   4. 92. Trade disputes

9. PART 8 Information and notices: general provision

   1. 93. Pipeline notices

   2. 94. General exemptions from duties to publish or disclose information

   3. 95. Notices, documents and information: regulations and online system

   4. 96. Electronic communications

   5. 97. Information relating to a procurement

   6. 98. Record-keeping

   7. 99. Data protection

10. PART 9 Remedies for breach of statutory duty

    1. 100. Duties under this Act enforceable in civil proceedings

    2. 101. Automatic suspension of the entry into or modification of contracts

    3. 102. Interim remedies

    4. 103. Pre-contractual remedies

    5. 104. Post-contractual remedies

    6. 105. Post-contractual remedies: set aside conditions

    7. 106. Time limits on claims

    8. 107. Part 9 proceedings and closed material procedure

11. PART 10 Procurement oversight

    1. 108. Procurement investigations

    2. 109. Recommendations following procurement investigations

    3. 110. Guidance following procurement investigations

12. PART 11 Appropriate authorities and cross-border procurement

    1. 111. Welsh Ministers: restrictions on the exercise of powers

    2. 112. Northern Ireland department: restrictions on the exercise of powers

    3. 113. Minister of the Crown: restrictions on the exercise of powers

    4. 114. Definitions relating to procurement arrangements

    5. 115. Powers relating to procurement arrangements

13. PART 12 Amendments and repeals

    1. 116. Disapplication of duty in section 17 of the Local Government Act 1988

    2. 117. Single source defence contracts

    3. 118. Concurrent powers and the Government of Wales Act 2006

    4. 119. Repeals etc

14. PART 13 General

    1. 120. Power to disapply this Act in relation to procurement by NHS in England

    2. 121. Power to amend this Act in relation to private utilities

    3. 122. Regulations

    4. 123. Interpretation

    5. 124. Index of defined expressions

    6. 125. Power to make consequential, etc, provision

    7. 126. Extent

    8. 127. Commencement

    9. 128. Short title

15. SCHEDULES

    1. SCHEDULE 1

       Threshold amounts

       1. 1. (1) The threshold amount for a contract of a type...

       2. 2. An appropriate authority may by regulations amend this Schedule for...

       3. 3. An appropriate authority may by regulations amend this Schedule for...

       4. 4. A contract is a “works contract” if its main purpose...

       5. 5. (1) In this Schedule— “central government authority” means a contracting...

    2. SCHEDULE 2

       Exempted contracts

       1. PART 1 Counterparty exempted contracts

          1. 1. General

          2. 2. Vertical arrangements

          3. 3. Horizontal arrangements

          4. 4. Defence and security contracts

          5. 5. Utilities contracts

          6. 6. (1) A utilities contract awarded for the supply of goods,...

       2. PART 2 Subject-matter exempted contracts

          1. 7. General

          2. 8. Land and buildings etc

          3. 9. Broadcasting

          4. 10. A contract for the broadcast (by any means) by a...

          5. 11. Electronic communications services

          6. 12. A contract the main purpose of which is permitting a...

          7. 13. Alternative dispute resolution

          8. 14. Legal services

          9. 15. Financial services

          10. 16. (1) A contract for the provision or carrying out of...

          11. 17. A contract for the provision of services by the Bank...

          12. 18. Employment

          13. 19. Any other contract between a contracting authority and an individual...

          14. 20. Emergency services

          15. 21. Public passenger transport services

          16. 22. Research and development services

          17. 23. International agreements and organisations

          18. 24. A contract awarded under a procedure— (a) adopted by an...

          19. 25. National security

          20. 26. Intelligence activities

          21. 27. Defence and security contracts

          22. 28. A defence and security contract where— (a) the supplier is...

          23. 29. A defence and security contract awarded under a procedure adopted...

          24. 30. A defence and security contract awarded under an arrangement between...

          25. 31. Utilities contracts

          26. 32. A utilities contract for the supply of water to a...

          27. 33. A utilities contract for the supply of energy, or fuel...

          28. 34. A contract for the supply of goods, services or works...

          29. 35. Concession contracts

          30. 36. (1) A concession contract that— (a) confers an exclusive right...

          31. 37. A concession contract for the provision of public passenger transport...

          32. 38. Commercial contracts of the City of London

    3. SCHEDULE 3

       Estimating the value of a contract

       1. 1. General rule

       2. 2. Frameworks

       3. 3. Concession contracts

       4. 4. Anti-avoidance

       5. 5. Cases where estimate not possible

    4. SCHEDULE 4

       Utility activities

       1. PART 1 Activities that are utility activities

          1. 1. Gas and heat

          2. 2. Electricity

          3. 3. Water

          4. 4. Transport

          5. 5. Ports and airports

          6. 6. Extraction of oil and gas and exploration for, or extraction of, coal or other solid fuels

          7. 7. Interpretation of Schedule

       2. PART 2 Activities that are not utility activities

          1. 8. Generation of electricity in England, Scotland or Wales.

          2. 9. Production of electricity in England, Scotland or Wales.

          3. 10. Wholesale or retail sale of electricity in England, Scotland or...

          4. 11. Wholesale or retail sale of gas in England, Scotland or...

          5. 12. Exploration for oil in England, Scotland or Wales.

          6. 13. Exploration for natural gas in England, Scotland or Wales.

          7. 14. Production of oil in England, Scotland or Wales.

          8. 15. Production of natural gas in England, Scotland or Wales.

          9. 16. Development of infrastructure for production of oil in England, Scotland...

          10. 17. Development of infrastructure for production of natural gas in England,...

    5. SCHEDULE 5

       Direct award justifications

       1. 1. This Schedule contains the direct award justifications.

       2. 2. Prototypes and development

       3. 3. In paragraph 2, “novel goods or services” means goods or...

       4. 4. Single suppliers

       5. 5. The following conditions are met in relation to the public...

       6. 6. The following conditions are met in relation to the public...

       7. 7. Additional or repeat goods, services or works

       8. 8. The public contract concerns the supply of goods, services or...

       9. 9. In paragraphs 7 and 8— “existing goods, services or works”...

       10. 10. Commodities

       11. 11. Advantageous terms on insolvency

       12. 12. A supplier is “undergoing insolvency proceedings” if it has—

       13. 13. Urgency

       14. 14. For the purpose of paragraph 13, urgency is unavoidable if...

       15. 15. User choice contracts

       16. 16. In paragraph 15, “user choice services” means services—

       17. 17. The conditions are that— (a) the individual to whom the...

       18. 18. Defence and security

       19. 19. (1) The following conditions are met in relation to the...

       20. 20. The following conditions are met in relation to the public...

    6. SCHEDULE 6

       Mandatory exclusion grounds

       1. PART 1 Offences

          1. 1. A mandatory exclusion ground applies to a supplier if the...

          2. 2. Corporate manslaughter or corporate homicide

          3. 3. Terrorism

          4. 4. Theft, fraud, bribery etc

          5. 5. An offence at common law of conspiracy to defraud.

          6. 6. An offence under any of the following sections of the...

          7. 7. An offence under any of the following sections of the...

          8. 8. An offence under section 3 of the Theft Act 1978...

          9. 9. An offence under section 5 of the Theft (Northern Ireland)...

          10. 10. An offence under Article 172 or 172A of the Road...

          11. 11. An offence under section 58 of the Civic Government (Scotland)...

          12. 12. An offence under section 113 of the Representation of the...

          13. 13. An offence under section 178 of the Road Traffic Act...

          14. 14. An offence under section 327, 328 or 329 of the...

          15. 15. An offence under section 2, 3, 4, 6 or 7...

          16. 16. An offence under section 993 of the Companies Act 2006...

          17. 17. An offence under section 1, 2 or 6 of the...

          18. 18. An offence under section 49 of the Criminal Justice and...

          19. 19. Labour market, slavery and human trafficking offences

          20. 20. An offence under the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Northern Ireland) Order...

          21. 21. An offence under section 31(1) of the National Minimum Wage...

          22. 22. An offence under the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004 (offences relating...

          23. 23. An offence under section 1, 2, 4 or 30 of...

          24. 24. An offence under section 1, 4 or 32 of the...

          25. 25. An offence under section 1, 2 or 4 of the...

          26. 26. An offence under section 27 of the Immigration Act 2016...

          27. 27. Organised crime

          28. 28. An offence under section 45 of the Serious Crime Act...

          29. 29. Tax offences

          30. 30. (1) An offence under the law of any part of...

          31. 31. An offence under section 45 or 46 of the Criminal...

          32. 32. Cartel offence

          33. 33. Ancillary offences

          34. 34. Offences committed outside the United Kingdom

       2. PART 2 Other mandatory exclusion grounds

          1. 35. National security

          2. 36. Misconduct in relation to tax

          3. 37. (1) A mandatory exclusion ground applies to a supplier if...

          4. 38. (1) A mandatory exclusion ground applies to a supplier if—...

          5. 39. (1) A mandatory exclusion ground applies to a supplier if...

          6. 40. (1) A mandatory exclusion ground applies to a supplier if...

          7. 41. Competition law infringements

          8. 42. Equivalents outside the United Kingdom

          9. 43. Failure to cooperate with investigation

       3. PART 3 General

          1. 44. Excluded matters

          2. 45. Definitions

    7. SCHEDULE 7

       Discretionary exclusion grounds

       1. 1. Labour market misconduct

       2. 2. A discretionary exclusion ground applies to a supplier if the...

       3. 3. A discretionary exclusion ground applies to a supplier if the...

       4. 4. Environmental misconduct

       5. 5. Insolvency, bankruptcy, etc

       6. 6. A discretionary exclusion ground applies to a supplier if the...

       7. 7. Potential competition infringements

       8. 8. A discretionary exclusion ground applies to a supplier if the...

       9. 9. (1) A discretionary exclusion ground applies to a supplier if—...

       10. 10. (1) A discretionary exclusion ground applies to a supplier if...

       11. 11. Professional misconduct

       12. 12. Breach of contract and poor performance

       13. 13. Acting improperly in procurement

       14. 14. National security

       15. 15. Excluded matters

       16. 16. Definitions

       17. 17. Other terms used in this Schedule and defined in Schedule...

    8. SCHEDULE 8

       Permitted contract modifications

       1. 1. Provided for in the contract

       2. 2. Urgency and the protection of life, etc

       3. 3. Assume, for the purposes of paragraph 2, that the contract...

       4. 4. Unforeseeable circumstances

       5. 5. Materialisation of a known risk

       6. 6. In paragraph 5, a “known risk” means a risk that—...

       7. 7. In considering whether awarding a new contract would be in...

       8. 8. Additional goods, services or works

       9. 9. Transfer on corporate restructuring

       10. 10. Defence authority contracts

       11. 11. A modification of a defence authority contract is a permitted...

    9. SCHEDULE 9

       Treaty state suppliers (specified international agreements)

       1. 1. The Agreement on Government Procurement signed at Marrakesh on 15...

       2. 2. Agreement establishing an Association between the United Kingdom of Great...

       3. 3. Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and...

       4. 4. Trade and Partnership Agreement between the Government of the United...

       5. 5. Economic Partnership Agreement between the CARIFORUM States, of the one...

       6. 6. Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and...

       7. 7. Agreement Establishing an Association between the United Kingdom of Great...

       8. 8. Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain...

       9. 9. Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of...

       10. 10. Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of...

       11. 11. Political, Free Trade and Strategic Partnership Agreement between the United...

       12. 12. Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern...

       13. 13. Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of...

       14. 14. Agreement on Trade Continuity between the United Kingdom of Great...

       15. 15. Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain...

       16. 16. Trade Continuity Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain...

       17. 17. Strategic Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom...

       18. 18. Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain...

       19. 19. Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great...

       20. 20. Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of...

       21. 21. Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the Government of the...

       22. 22. Free Trade Agreement between Iceland, the Principality of Liechtenstein and...

       23. 23. Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain...

       24. 24. Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain...

    10. SCHEDULE 10

        Single source defence contracts

        1. 1. The Defence Reform Act 2014 is amended as follows.

        2. 2. Definition of qualifying defence contract

        3. 3. Pricing of qualifying defence contracts

        4. 4. (1) Section 16 (pricing of contracts: supplementary) is amended as...

        5. 5. After section 21(2) (final price adjustment) insert—

        6. 6. In section 22(1)(a) (recovery of unpaid amounts), after “section” insert...

        7. 7. (1) Section 42 (single source contract regulations: general) is amended...

        8. 8. In section 43 (interpretation etc), at the appropriate place insert—...

        9. 9. Contract profit rate

        10. 10. (1) Section 18 (contract profit rate: supplementary) is amended as...

        11. 11. (1) Section 19 (rates etc relevant to determining contract profit...

        12. 12. Allowable costs

        13. 13. Reports

        14. 14. In section 43 (interpretation etc), in the definition of “financial...

        15. 15. Qualifying sub-contracts

        16. 16. In section 30(4)(a) (application of single source contracts regime to...

        17. 17. In section 31(3) (compliance notices)— (a) in paragraph (e), omit...

        18. 18. Powers of the Single Source Regulations Office (“SSRO”)

        19. 19. After section 35 insert— Guidance The SSRO may issue such guidance as it considers appropriate...

        20. 20. In paragraph 10(3) of Schedule 4 (procedure of the SSRO),...

    11. SCHEDULE 11

        Repeals and revocations

        1. 1. Primary legislation

        2. 2. Sections 39 and 40 of the Small Business, Enterprise and...

        3. 3. The Trade (Australia and New Zealand) Act 2023.

        4. 4. Subordinate legislation

        5. 5. The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (S.I. 2015/102).

        6. 6. The Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/273).

        7. 7. The Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/274).