Public Procurement

A practice note on the mechanisms for making changes to public contracts and the procurement implications arising from making the changes.

A practice note on sustainable public procurement, including details of the legal framework, tips on how to take account of sustainability issues in the tender process and the background to the sustainability agenda.

A note looking at the various project structures that can be used in public sector shared services projects and addressing the issues that are likely to arise when implementing them.

A note introducing the public sector shared services initiative, looking at what services are suitable for a shared delivery approach and the risks and benefits of sharing services.

This practice note provides an overview of the retention of employment model (RoE) looking specifically at the use of RoE in relation to transfers of services from the public sector to the private sector.

A practice note on the government's transparency programme and future developments in the transparency agenda. The note: Provides an overview of the government's transparency requirements. Summarises some of the relevant guidance on implementing the transparency requirements. Highlights some of the privacy implications of the transparency requirements. Looks at the impact of the transparency requirements on public procurement processes. Looks at future legal developments in relation to transparency and rights to data. Provides a checklist to help public sector lawyers advise their organisations on the transparency requirements.

A practice note charting developments relating to the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on public procurement (Public Sector Directive reform).

A practice note charting developments relating to the proposal for a Directive on the award of concession contracts.

This note covers the procurement (including outsourcing) of telecommunications and information goods and services by the public sector. The note explains the practical and policy boundaries and regulatory regime for these procurements, examines the use of framework agreements by the public sector, analyses the standard contract documentation developed for the public sector by the Office of Government Commerce and others, and addresses the key contentious issues which arise when the public sector engages with the private sector. NOTE: this practice note is in the process of being rewritten by Richard Bonnar and PLC Public Sector and a revised version will be published during the course of 2013.

A practice note looking at the public procurement regime that applies in England and Wales. It includes a review of who must comply, contract thresholds, in-house contract award, the obligations if the rules do apply and the remedies for a failure to comply with the rules.

A note on ProCure21, an NHS procurement method for publicly funded capital projects, which was replaced by ProCure21+ from October 2010. The note explains the background to ProCure21, gives an analysis of the New Engineering Contract, second edition (NEC2) Engineering and Construction Contract (ECC) and explains the ProCure21 amendments to the ECC. ProCure21 ended on 12 September 2010 and its replacement framework, ProCure21+, commenced on 1 October 2010 (see Blog post, Who, or why, or which, or what, is ProCure21+?). We no longer maintain this note.

This note sets out the relevant powers enabling local authorities and NHS bodies to enter into partnership arrangements and discusses the practical issues that should be considered in relation to the partnering arrangements.

This Practice note covers the issues that arise when contracting authorities procure contracts that are not subject to the full procurement regime. For an overview of the whole of the procurement regime, see Practice note, Public procurement in the UK.

This note provides guidance on when an OJEU notice ought to be completed and how to do so.

A note considering the key issues to consider prior to choosing the OGC model ICT services agreement as a precedent agreement for a non-ICT services outsourcing.

A practice note on public procurement remedies in the UK providing guidance on: Standing to bring a claim under the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/5) (as amended). The standstill period. Automatic suspension. Ineffectiveness.

A note on the uses, options and establishment of joint venture vehicles by local authorities.

The Joint Contracts Tribunal (JCT) Public Sector Supplement 2011 is intended to help public sector employers use a JCT building contract to meet the government's fair payment principles, to allow for transparency and freedom of information requests, and to encourage use of Building Information Modelling (BIM) protocols.

The Government Construction Strategy, published on 31 May 2011, promised radical changes to construction procurement, cost benchmarking and greater use of standard form contracts in the public sector. The government plans to implement the strategy between 2011 and 2013 and it continues to publish further documents, which follow or dovetail with the strategy. This note refers to that work by, for example, the Innovation and Growth Team (IGT) and Infrastructure UK (IUK).

This note is about the effective use of framework agreements in both the private and public sectors.

A note setting out the issues to consider when carrying out an evaluation of tenders for a public contract to ensure that the evaluation process complies with the public procurement regime.

A note on common issues to consider when negotiating a construction sub-contract in a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) or public private partnership (PPP) project. The construction sub-contract is the key construction document on a PFI or PPP project, equivalent to the main building contract in a traditional or design and build project.

Articles 107 and 108 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union provide the European Commission with wide-ranging powers to investigate illegally paid subsidies and to order member state governments to recover subsidies which distort the market in favour of state-aided enterprises. This Practice note considers the types of state aids subject to EU rules; the requirements on the part of governments, local authorities and other public bodies to notify state aids to the Commission for prior approval; the remedies that are available to companies affected by unlawful subsidies; the "block exemption" regulations; and state aid notification procedures, as well as recent reforms of the state aid rules.

A note considering how a public authority can utilise a contract awarded by another public authority. The note considers the three main possibilities: Awarding a call-off contract under a framework agreement. Entering into a separate contract directly with the other public authority's provider. Entering into a contract with the other public authority, who will then subcontract the provision of the services. The note considers the legal issues involved in these three options and also the circumstances when it may be appropriate to use them.

BSF was a long-term programme for investment in England's secondary schools. In July 2010, the government decided not to progress with individual BSF projects that had not reached financial close. Following the end of the new-build BSF programme, we no longer maintain this note.

A practice note on the best value regime, how it has developed and best value considerations in outsourcing.

A practice note explaining where to find EU law content from a topic page.

A note on the property and construction issues associated with the establishment of an academy school under section 482 of the Education Act 1996 and the previous government's Academy Delivery Programme. Note added: Section 482of the Education Act 1996 has been  repealed by the Education Act 2011, Schedule 14 paragraph 16 with effect from 1 February 2012.  Under section 15 of the Academies Act 2010, the 1996-Act Academy agreements will be treated as academy arrangements under the Academies Act 2010 and such Academies may turn into 2010 Act Academies if they so agree.  For information on Academies under the Academies Act 2010, see Practice notes, Academies under the Academies Act 2010: overview , Academies under the Academies Act 2010: property issues, Academies under the Academies Act 2010: an overview of the funding agreement  and Academies under the Academies Act 2010: the commercial transfer agreement.