ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained.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 (ie ongoing procurements). 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. Bidding for public contracts tendered under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 Public procurement is a buying process essentially similar to its private sector counterpart. However, procurement by contracting authorities in the public sector is driven by legal

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note has been archived and is not maintained.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. Public procurement under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 A contracting authority must use one of the five permitted procurement procedures set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), SI 2015/102, unless an exemption applies,

In legal practice, a public record generally means a document, register or other information held by a public authority that is lawfully accessible to the public, either as of right or subject to specified procedures. It typically includes court records, land and property registers, company filings, legislative materials, and many regulatory registers.The term “public record” is used descriptively across multiple legal contexts rather than having a single, uniform statutory definition for all purposes. Specific legislation governs different categories of public record, for example the Public Records Acts and Freedom of Information legislation in England and Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Ireland, together with court rules and sector‑specific statutes (such as companies, land registration and planning law).Key issues for practitioners include: who is entitled to inspect or obtain copies; what redactions or confidentiality restrictions apply; evidential status (for example, presumptions of authenticity or accuracy); retention and archiving duties; and data protection and privacy constraints on disclosure.Usage is broadly consistent across the UK and Ireland, although institutional structures (such as The National Archives, National Records of Scotland, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland and the National Archives of Ireland) and detailed access regimes differ by jurisdiction.

There are many public registers, containing environmental information, which are required by statute to be provided and maintained. These registers contain valuable information about a company or its assets and are a useful resource for obtaining environmental information. These public registers can be used to, for example: • check the propensity of a site to flood without having a commercial interest in that site • access energy performance information of a property • obtain the terms of water or waste discharge permits, even if those permits are privately held • obtain information on approved producers or exporters of WEEE • access information on producer compliance schemes • find data on types and volumes of packaging handled, and waste recovery documentation Some examples of registers containing useful environmental information are outlined below. Energy performance certificates The Energy Performance of Buildings (England and Wales) Regulations 2012 (the EPC Regulations), SI 2012/3118, require the Secretary of State to maintain one or more registers containing: • energy performance certificates (EPCs) • display energy certificates (DECs) • inspection reports • recommendation

Highways that allow the public a legal right of passage, including footpaths, bridleways, Byways Open to All Traffic and restricted byways. PROW have the same legal status and protection as highways and remain in existence until legally closed, diverted or extinguished. It is a criminal offence to obstruct a PROW.

Part I of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRWA 2000) is intended to give greater freedom for people to explore open countryside. It provides a statutory public right of access on foot—subject to exceptions (see ‘Excepted land’ below)—over ‘access land’, defined in CRWA 2000, s 1 as: • mapped areas of ‘open country’, including mountain, moor, heath and down • virtually all registered common land (ie land which has been registered as such under the Commons Registration Act 1965) • in England, ‘coastal margin’, as specified by the Secretary of State under CRWA 2000, s 3A • ‘dedicated land’, ie land dedicated by its owners for public access under CRWA 2000, s 16(1) Any land which is subject to the public right of access is called ‘access land’. Rights of public in relation to access land CRWA 2000, s 2 gives people a right of entry onto access land (defined above) for the purposes of open-air recreation, provided that: • they enter without breaking or damaging

Public rights of way (PROW) are highways that allow the public a legal right of passage. They have the same status and protection in law as highways and remain in existence until legally closed, diverted or extinguished. It is a criminal offence to wilfully obstruct free passage along a PROW without lawful authority or excuse. Early identification of PROW can help to avoid potential delays to development or difficulties in selling properties. Local authorities are under a legal duty to keep all PROW available to the public and can take enforcement action and instigate prosecutions to ensure that PROW remain open. Types of PROW While a PROW must be open to all members of the public, the right to use a particular PROW is limited to a certain class of user. The following are considered the main types of PROW: • a carriageway—over which the public have a right of way on foot, riding on or accompanied by a beast of burden and with vehicles and cattle • a footpath—for use on foot and mobility vehicles (eg pushchairs

Public auction

ARCHIVED: This archived Practice Note is not maintained and is for background information only. For periods between 31 March 2017 and 31 March 2022, certain prescribed public sector bodies, including those with 250 or more staff in England, had a target under the Public Sector Apprenticeship Targets Regulations 2017 (the 2017 Regulations), SI 2017/513, to employ an average of at least 2.3% of their staff as new apprentice starts annually over the relevant target period. This Practice Note sets out: • to which public sector bodies the duty to have regard to the target applied—see To whom the duty applied, below • the target to which public sector bodies in scope of the 2017 Regulations had to aim, and who was included in the headcount against which the target is measured—see The target, below • the information to be published and/or provided to the Department for Education (DfE)—see Reporting requirements, below • the situation in respect of periods from 1 April 2022 onwards—see Public sector apprenticeships reporting for periods from 1 April 2022, below For

Law360: Proposals put forward by the previous government to launch a public sector consolidator of retirement savings plans run by the pensions lifeboat fund would be a 'welcome addition' to the market, Broadstone said on 29 August 2024.

All public authorities, when exercising any of their functions, are subject to the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED). The PSED is set out in section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 (EqA 2010). The PSED requires public authorities, in the exercise of their functions, to have ‘due regard’ to the need to: • eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under EqA 2010 • advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a ‘relevant protected characteristic’ and persons who do not share it • foster good relations between persons who share a ‘relevant protected characteristic’ and persons who do not share it EqA 2010, s 149 replaced the previous three separate public sector duties on race, gender and disability equality (Race Relations Act 1976, s 71, Sex Discrimination Act 1975, s 76A and Disability Discrimination Act 1995, s 49A—all repealed), bringing the duties under one statute, and extending the duty to other protected characteristics. Case law relating to the former public equality duties

Occupational pension scheme for employees of central government, local government, nationalised industries and other statutory bodies.