Cabinet Office urges adoption of updated standard contract templates and guidance

Article summary

The Cabinet Office has published three new standard contract document collections, containing updated templates and guidance for the government’s Model Services Contract, Mid-Tier Contract and Short Form Contract. The Cabinet Office has also published a new Procurement Policy Note (PPN) with further guidance on the adoption of the standard contracts. PPN 08/23: Using Standard Contracts, replaces PPN 04/14 and PPN 06/14 and applies to central government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, which are urged to adopt the standard contracts ‘as soon as practicable’. Other public sector bodies are also encouraged to apply the approach set out in PPN 08/23, which advises the adoption of the standard contracts for all relevant procurements, instead of using bespoke contracts, unless there is an existing government framework available eg Crown Commercial Service Frameworks, Dynamic Purchasing Systems, Low Value Purchase Systems, departmental purchase orders, or industry standard contracts (eg for construction projects). The adoption of the...