Procurement and social housing

Construction iStock 000002149516XSmall 146x219Social housing providers should be aware of some significant changes ahead with the arrival of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, writes Bill Bullivant.

The new European procurement directive came into force in March and the Cabinet Office has now published the first consultation draft of the proposed Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which will transpose the directive into UK law.

What to expect

The focus of the changes and their main impact to social housing providers in the UK therefore will be:

  • A complete restyling of the Regulations to reflect the drafting of the directive. This might take some getting used to.
  • The simplification, flexibility and clarification of the rules.
  • The promotion of a qualitative improvement in the use of public procurement by ensuring greater consideration for social and environmental criteria.
  • The encouragement of access to public contracts by SMEs.

Impact on Registered Providers

Among the changes which will be of particular interest to RPs are:

  • Clarification of the exemptions available from competitive tendering for arrangements between RPs for the provision of shared services. Alongside the recent relaxation of VAT rules for the provision of shared services this will create an environment in which the sharing of services between social housing providers will become an attractive option for many RPs, particularly those with estates which are remote from their main centre of operation.
  • Clarification of the circumstances under which competitive tenders will not be required for development agreements between RPs and private sector developers.
  • Abolition of Part B services. Tenders for services such as legal services must now be exposed to competition under the same rules as all other services.
  • Contracts for social services. Special arrangements will be put into place for social services contracts, including a higher value threshold and a less prescriptive regime for the tendering procedure.
  • Greater consideration for social and environmental criteria – on the face of it this sits comfortably with RPs’ obligations under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.
  • The long awaited relaxation of the rules permitting the use of the negotiated procedure.

Timescale

These changes will not affect the procedure leading to the award of public contracts in the UK until new Regulations come into force. Our best guess for that is the spring of next year and so social housing providers need to prepare now for the new rules.

Bill Bullivant is a consultant at Clarke Willmott. He can be contacted on 0845 209 1364 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..