Publication of notices on central digital platform
5.—(1) A notice, document or information which is published or given under a provision of the 2023 Act listed in paragraph (5) must first be published or given, by the contracting authority publishing it on the central digital platform.
(2) Unless paragraph (3) or paragraph (6) apply, the requirement in paragraph (1) for the contracting authority to first publish or give a notice, document or information on the central digital platform is met where the contracting authority has submitted the notice, document or information to the Welsh digital platform and—
(a)the Minister for the Cabinet Office has informed the contracting authority that the notice, document or information has successfully been submitted for publication to the central digital platform, or
(b)the notice, document or information is capable of being accessed by suppliers and members of the public on the central digital platform.
(3) If the Welsh digital platform is unavailable so that the requirement in paragraph (2) cannot be met, a contracting authority may publish a notice, document or information—
(a)on the central digital platform, or
(b)on the central digital platform by using an alternative online system.
(4) Where paragraph (3) applies the requirement in paragraph (1) will be met where—
(a)the Minister for the Cabinet Office has informed the contracting authority that the notice, document or information has successfully been submitted for publication to the central digital platform, or
(b)the notice, document or information is capable of being accessed by suppliers and members of the public on the central digital platform.
(5) The relevant provisions of the 2023 Act are—
(a)section 15(1) (planned procurement notices)(1),
(b)section 17(1)(a) (preliminary market engagement notices),
(c)section 21(1) (tender 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)(2),
(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: 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) (publication of 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) (general exemptions from duties to publish or disclose information: information being withheld).
(6) If all of the conditions that apply in paragraph (7) are met the contracting authority may publish or give the notice, document or information on the Welsh digital platform or, if unavailable, 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).
(7) The conditions are that—
(a)in the case of a notice mentioned in paragraph (8), no less than 4 hours have passed since the notice was submitted for publication to the central digital platform,
(b)in the case of any other notice, or a document or information, no less than 48 hours have passed since the notice, document or information was submitted for publication to the central digital 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 central digital platform, and
(d)the notice, document or information is not capable of being accessed by members of the public on the central digital platform.
(8) The notices are a transparency notice, contract award notice or contract details notice relating to—
(a)the direct award of a public contract under paragraphs 13 and 14 of Schedule 5 to the 2023 Act (urgency), or
(b)the direct award of a public contract under section 42 of the 2023 Act (direct award to protect life, etc.).
(9) But 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.
(10) A contracting authority which uses the Welsh digital platform or an alternative online system in accordance with paragraph (6) 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 that system.
(11) An “alternative online system” is an online system for publishing procurement information which is—
(a)free of charge and readily accessible to suppliers and members of the public,
(b)accessible to disabled people, and
(c)not the central digital platform or the Welsh digital platform.
(12) Nothing in this regulation prevents a contracting authority from publishing the notice, document or information somewhere other than on the central digital platform, the Welsh digital platform or alternative online system but the authority must not do so before complying with the requirements of paragraph (1) or (6).
Planned procurement notices include qualifying planned procurement notices (see section 15(3) of the 2023 Act).
Dynamic market notices under section 39(2) include qualifying utilities dynamic market notices (see section 40(6) of the 2023 Act.).