Transparency – New PPN 01/23 gives welcomed clarity on publication requirements

Procurement Policy Note - Requirements to publish on Contracts Finder (PPN 01/23), together with its associated Guidance on the Transparency Requirements for Publishing on Contracts Finder, was published on 19 January 2023. PPN 01/23 provides consolidated guidance that reminds in-scope organisations of the requirements of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) to publish information about opportunities and awards, over certain contract value thresholds, on Contracts Finder.

In this blog, we consider the main changes since the previous PPN 09/21.¹

 

Below Threshold Regime

PPN 01/23 confirms that The Public Contracts (Amendment) Regulations 2022 amends the contract value thresholds as follows:

• Central Government bodies – the threshold has increased from GBP10,000 to GBP12,000 (incl. VAT); and

• Local Government bodies (including NHS Foundation Trusts and NHS Trusts) – the threshold has increased from GBP25,000 to GBP30,000 (incl. VAT).

In January 2022, new regulations updated the contract value threshold amounts to be inclusive of VAT, which effectively lowered the threshold values and resulted in an increased burden for in-scope organisations. The increased contract value threshold therefore restores the previous contract value thresholds which trigger the below threshold obligations under Chapter 8 of the PCR 2015.

 

Which Threshold Applies?

Although NHS Foundation Trusts are now defined in Schedule 1 of the PCR 2015 as Central Government authorities, the Public Contracts (Amendment) Regulations 2022 seeks to address ambiguity as to whether NHS Foundation Trusts should publish at the Central or Local Government threshold, with PPN 01/23 confirming that it is the GBP30,000 threshold which applies to NHS Foundation Trusts (as is the case for NHS Trusts).

In addition to the above, NHS Foundation Trusts will also have 90 days from contract award date to publish contract award notices to Contracts Finder.

 

VAT

As a reminder, the Public Contracts (Amendment) Regulations 2022 updated the position on VAT such that the contract value thresholds are to be calculated inclusive of VAT.

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¹PPN 09/21: Requirements to publish on Contracts Finder.