Procurement Act 2023

Prospective

65 Debarment decisions: appeals U.K.

(1) A supplier may appeal to the court against a decision of a Minister of the Crown—

(a) to enter the supplier’s name on the debarment list,

(b) to indicate contracts of a particular description as part of an entry made in respect of the supplier on the basis of paragraph 35 of Schedule 6 (threat to national security),

(c) to indicate a particular date as part of an entry in respect of the supplier under section 62(4)(d), or

(d) not to remove or revise an entry made in respect of the supplier following an application under section 64 (application for removal).

(2) Proceedings under subsection (1)—

(a) may only be brought by a United Kingdom supplier or a treaty state supplier,

(b) may only be brought on the grounds that, in making the decision, the Minister made a material mistake of law, and

(c) must be commenced before the end of the period of 30 days beginning with the day on which the supplier first knew, or ought to have known, about the Minister’s decision.

(3) Subsection (4) applies if, in proceedings under subsection (1)(a) or (b), the court is satisfied that—

(a) the Minister made a material mistake of law, and

(b) in consequence of the mistake, a contracting authority excluded the supplier from participating in a competitive tendering procedure, or other selection process, in reliance on section 57(1)(b) or (2)(b).

(4) The court may make one or more of the following orders—

(a) an order setting aside the Minister’s decision;

(b) an order to compensate the supplier for any costs incurred by the supplier in relation to participating in the procedure or process referred to in subsection (3)(b).

(5) Otherwise, if the court is satisfied that the Minister made a material mistake of law, the court may make an order setting aside the Minister’s decision.

(6) In this section—

• “the court” has the meaning given in section 63 (interim relief);

• the reference to a supplier being excluded includes a reference to—

  (a)

  the supplier’s tender being disregarded under section 26;

  (b)

  the supplier becoming an excluded supplier for the purposes of section 41(1)(a), 43(1) or 45(6)(a).

Commencement Information

I1 S. 65 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 127(2)