Latest blogs on procurement law

The Court refuses Circle's request to suspend the award of a medical services contract in Nottingham, pending a review of the fairness of the procurement at full trial.

No decision to abandon is ever taken lightly and, indeed, you can search for hours in the Regulations and not find an express right to abandon (albeit Regulation 55(1)(b) makes it clear that a decision not to award is permissible) but it is generally regarded as the most pragmatic response to a challenge which may have merit.

In a recent judgment of interest to readers in the health sector (Case C-456/17 Falck Rettungsdienste v Stadt Solingen) the European Court has confirmed that ambulance services which transport patients in medical emergencies are exempt from the scope of the procurement law regime.

The issues of equal treatment has been looked at by the Courts on several occasions recently. We look at a recent case from earlier in 2019 on equal treatment and the proper extent of a contracting authority’s discretion, and distil the principles for you.

In April 2019 the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 were amended to include a new regulation 113A and 113B, implementing the recent EU directive on electronic invoicing. Click here to check your contracts meet the new requirements.

Regulation 84 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 requires contracting authorities to keep a comprehensive report, rather like a bible of documents, about the progress of the procurement and the reasons for the decisions taken during it. Take the pain out of preparing a regulation 84 report with our new free to access online tool, available following a very simple registration process at www.regulation84.co.uk . Click here to find out more.

As far as we know www.procurementportal.com remains the only free to access site of its kind. Over the last decade it has become highly regarded amongst procurement professionals, from both contracting authorities and suppliers alike, as a mine of useful information, guidance, legal updates and commentary on procurement law, practice and developments.

After a turbulent day in Parliament yesterday, there is still little clarity on what will happen on 29 March or whether that timetable will be extended.

The Crown Commercial Service has published a note alerting us to the fact that its "Mystery Shopper" service has undergone a re-launch and is now known as the Public Procurement Review Service.