Legal background
- The UK had a complex body of public procurement legislation, much of which was derived from EU law. The principal legislation on public procurement in England, Wales and Northern Ireland was as set out above. These regulations are repealed by this legislation, subject to transitional provisions for ongoing procurements and contracts.
- There is a narrow delegated power to make secondary legislation for domestic public procurement matters in the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, Part 3 sections 39 and 40. Additional legislation relating to the pre-procurement activity carried out by contracting authorities is found in the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 (the Social Value Act), National Health Service (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No. 2) Regulations 2013, Part II of the Local Government Act 1988, the Local Government (Transparency Requirements) (England) Regulations 2015, and the Late Payment of Commercial Debts Regulations 2013.
- The legislation does not cover procurements by the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service, the Government Communications Headquarters or the Advanced Research and Invention Agency.
