Public Law analysis: The Cabinet Office has published Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 05/21: National Procurement Policy Statement (PPN 05/21). Catherine Wolfenden, partner at Osborne Clarke, discusses the Note and its potential difficulties/opportunities.

The Cabinet Office has published Procurement Policy Note 01/24: Carbon Reduction Contract Schedule (PPN 01/24), providing contracting authorities with guidance on a new optional standard carbon reduction contract schedule that can be included in government contracts. PPN 01/24 applies to all central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Other public sector contracting authorities may also wish to apply the guidance. It is applicable immediately.

The Cabinet Office has published Procurement Policy Note 02/24: Improving Transparency of AI use in Procurement (PPN 02/24). PPN 02/24 directs contracting authorities to guidance and best practice for using artificial intelligence (AI) in procurement and provides a set of optional questions to help identify the use of AI in procurement and in the delivery of government services. PPN 02/24 applies to all central government departments, their executive agencies, and non-departmental public bodies. Other public sector contracting authorities may also wish to apply the guidance. It is applicable immediately.

The Cabinet Office has published Procurement Policy Note 03/24: Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ) (PPN 03/24), providing contracting authorities with guidance on the updated standard SQ and accompanying statutory guidance. PPN 03/24 applies to all contracting authorities in England and contracting authorities in Wales and Northern Ireland that exercise wholly or mainly reserved functions, in each case when undertaking above threshold procurements within part 2 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), SI 2015/102. The revised standard selection questions and any other changes made by PPN 03/24 are to be in use at the latest by three months after the publication date, but can be used immediately if desired. PPN 03/24 replaces Procurement Policy Note 03/23: Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ) (PPN 03/23).

The Cabinet Office has reissued several Procurement Policy Notes (PPNs) ahead of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) ‘go-live’. These PPNs update the guidance on a range of topics to reflect PA 2023 and associated regulations. Topics covered include the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, open book contract management, reservation of below-threshold contracts, carbon reduction plans, contracts with Russia and Belarus, the Armed Forces Covenant, modern slavery, steel procurement, the Commercial Playbooks, the Security Classification Policy, standard contracts, the Cyber Essentials scheme and AI use. These PPNs are said to not constitute a change in policy or a new call for action, and in-scope organisations do not need to repeat actions which were required when the PPNs were originally published, but they should take note of the PPNs and continue to apply any ongoing obligations in them from 24 February 2025. Contracting authorities are reminded that PA 2023 does not apply to procurements commenced, or contracts awarded, before 24 February 2025. In each case, in-scope organisations are directed to the previous version of the PPNs for procurements which pre-date PA 2023.

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This practical guidance relates to the pre-Procurement Act 2023 regime This Practice Note contains guidance relevant to public procurement exercises commenced before the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) came into force on 24 February 2025. In-scope procurements begun on or after this date are governed by PA 2023. Under the transitional and savings provisions for PA 2023, the previous public procurement regimes continue to apply to the extent necessary to allow contracting authorities to complete and manage procurements commenced before PA 2023 came into force. This Practice Note should be read in that context. For background reading, see Practice Note: Introduction to the Procurement Act 2023—PA 2023. Further practical guidance on PA 2023 is set out in a separate subtopic, see: Procurement Act 2023—overview. Underlying procurement principles—pre-PA 2023 A contracting authority must observe the general principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination, transparency and proportionality in relation to all public procurement correspondence for contracts valued above the relevant tendering threshold

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained. This practical guidance relates to the pre-Procurement Act 2023 regime This Practice Note contains guidance relevant to public procurement exercises commenced before the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) came into force on 24 February 2025. In-scope procurements begun on or after this date are governed by PA 2023. Under the transitional and savings provisions for PA 2023, the previous public procurement regimes continue to apply to the extent necessary to allow contracting authorities to complete and manage procurements commenced before PA 2023 came into force. This Practice Note should be read in that context. For background reading, see Practice Note: Introduction to the Procurement Act 2023—PA 2023. Further practical guidance on PA 2023 is set out in a separate subtopic, see: Procurement Act 2023—overview. Underlying procurement principles—pre-PA 2023 A contracting authority must observe the general principles of equal treatment, non-discrimination, transparency and proportionality in relation to all public procurement correspondence for contracts valued above the relevant tendering

Cabinet Office has published an updated version of its Procurement Oversight Guidance, to reflect the role of the Procurement Compliance Service (PCS), sitting alongside the Public Procurement Review Service as one of the two services within Procurement Compliance and Oversight (PCO). Paragraphs 7 to 14 of the guidance are amended accordingly. In addition, the updated guidance makes some amendments related to devolution, including making clear that a minister does not require consent before giving guidance to a transferred Northern Ireland authority.

We run our business with integrity. Buying goods and services represents a significant portion of [insert organisation’s name]’s total expenditure. All of us must work together to ensure our buying is carried out in an effective and ethical manner. 1 Introduction 1.1 [Insert organisation’s name] seeks excellence in every aspect of its business. Effective procurement (buying) is recognised by [insert organisation’s name]’s executive team as an important contributor to the achievement of [insert organisation’s name]’s corporate objectives and success. 1.2 This policy sets out the procedures to ensure the procurement (buying) practices of [insert organisation’s name] are equitable and in line with all applicable laws and regulations while achieving the best value for money and the reduction of operating costs. 1.3 All staff are required to follow these procedures. 1.4 All monetary values are stated net of VAT. 1.5 All procurement documents are available from [insert, eg the procurement or legal department]. 2 Principles 2.1 When buying goods and services, we will at all times act in a responsible manner by: 2.1.1 basing our supplier selection on objective and transparent criteria; 2.1.2 protecting the confidentiality of information that is entrusted to us;

This Procurement process flowchart shows the order in which a procurement may take place, together with the elements to be considered to ensure that a transparent and suitable procurement process is followed. It also identifies Precedents available to assist you with the procurement process. This Flowchart is a worked example and is not intended to be definitive. Different organisations may well have very different processes, but it provides a good starting or reference point. The contract value figures have been included for illustrative purposes only. See also Practice

Procurement project name [Insert name of the procurement project] Procurement project details [Insert summary of procurement project details] Project manager [Insert name of project manager] Project team members [Insert names of project team members] Project date [Insert project start date] 1 Background summary Consider the organisation’s legal services needs and the role of the legal team in the procurement exercise, incorporating current and future needs based on previous experience. Consider the team’s strategy and, if applicable, the procurement business case for the supply of legal services. Summary of the organisation’s legal services needs and the role of the legal team in the procurement exercise [Insert summary of your organisation’s needs and the role of the legal team] Summary of legal team’s strategy and its decision to buy external legal services [Insert summary of your legal team’s strategy and reasons for buying external legal services] Summary of the legal team’s business case including a summary of current legal costs vs anticipated costs and savings [Insert summary of business case if you have one and current and anticipated costs of external legal services costs] 2 Goals and Objectives 2.1 Goals The following table contains details of the primary goals the organisation wishes to achieve through this procurement project.

Public Law analysis: In dismissing Cornwall Council’s judicial review, the Administrative Court upheld the Secretary of State’s recovery of more than £2.12m in European Regional Development Funding (ERDF) funding arising from an unlawful direct award and a discriminatory Cornish sub-consultant requirement. Although the Secretary of State had erred in treating the principal contract as above threshold, the error was immaterial because Treaty principles independently required advertising. The judgment confirms that convenience, funding pressures and an existing contractor’s familiarity do not establish genuine technical reasons justifying a direct award, and that local economic objectives cannot justify discriminatory procurement criteria. It also underlines the continuing effect of EU procurement rules for legacy ERDF projects and the procedural rigour required when seeking late amendments in judicial review. Produced in partnership with Kate Davies, Brogan Cheshire and Rebecca Malone of Osborne Clarke LLP.