Condition precedents in light of Lancashire Schools v Lendlease

Condition precedents are common in various commercial agreements. Ewan Anthony and David Owens discuss the court’s general approach to considering contractual condition precedents, and whether, particularly after the recent case of Lancashire Schools SPC Phase 2 Limited v Lendlease Construction (Europe) Limited and Others [2024] EWHC 37 (TCC), the court may be prepared to disregard them. Read more

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February 16, 2024

Procurement and transparency

Melanie Pears and Tim Care analyse the new obligations on contracting authorities in relation to 'Transparency', drawing attention to any key changes from previous procurement legislation which contracting authorities ought to be aware of.
February 16, 2024

Public procurement: sub-contracting and joint ventures

Two judgments published in 2023 set out valuable lessons for those interested in bidding for public procurement opportunities when thinking about whether to participate as a sub-contractor and how to structure bids involving multiple parties, writes Kyle Duggan.
February 09, 2024

Sufficiently serious breach?

Sarah Whittle and Daniel Taylor analyse a landmark Court of Appeal decision regarding procurement challenges.
January 05, 2024

NEC101 – Key Case Law

Michael Comba and Shyann Sheehy examine key case law relating to the NEC suite of contracts, building on the topics explored by their colleagues in this series previously.
January 05, 2024

New Year, New Thresholds

Juli Lau looks at the latest procurement thresholds published by the Government last month.
November 30, 2023

Delivering the Procurement Act

Janet Lewis explains the role played by lawyers at the Government Legal Department in progressing the Government’s procurement reforms.
November 29, 2023

All change for commissioning health and social care

Now that the Procurement Act 2023 has received royal assent and the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 have been laid before parliament, Emma Watt, Steven Brunning and Amy Callahan-Page summarise the key changes affecting how adult social care services and health services will be commissioned and procured.

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Jun 29, 2023

CoA removes costs cap in long running state aid dispute

The Court of Appeal has overturned a costs cap imposed by the Competition Appeal Tribunal in a long-running dispute between Durham County Council and a waste management firm named The Durham Company, which trades as Max Recycle.
Feb 10, 2023

Auditors call for further debate on effectiveness of standards regime in report on former council leader and contract award

The auditors behind a probe into the behaviour of a former council leader and the procurement of a contract with his physiotherapist’s firm have expressed the hope that their report will "encourage the ongoing debate around the effectiveness of the standards regime for local government and support mechanisms for both officers and members facing the same intractable difficulties".
Nov 30, 2022

Procurement Bill could “significantly” limit ability of councils and other public sector bodies to collaborate through shared service arrangements: LGA

The Local Government Association (LGA) has warned that the Procurement Bill, which is currently at the report stage in the House of Lords, would "significantly limit” public bodies from using the current vertical and horizontal procurement exemptions, which enable councils and public sector bodies to enter into collaborative arrangements to run efficient public services.

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November 28, 2023

Education sector contracts

Amba Griffin-Booth provides her top ten tips on how to get education sector contracts right.
November 17, 2023

The Government’s Waste Tracking Response

On 21 October 2023 the Government published its long awaited response to the Consultation on implementation of mandatory electronic waste tracking. Sally Stock and Natasha Barlow set out the key points.
November 10, 2023

Where do we stand?

Colin Ricciardiello looks at an economic operator’s right to bring a procurement challenge.
October 20, 2023

Procurements and losses suffered by group companies

A High Court judge earlier this month lifted an automatic suspension that was preventing the Home Office from entering into contracts worth more than £750m for visa and citizenship application services. Ed Williams and Nico Tilche look at the lessons to be learned.
October 19, 2023

National Audit Office: lessons learned in public procurement and the legal implications

The National Audit Office (NAO) published a report on 19 July 2023, on the lessons learned in procurement and competition and provides key insights into public sector best practices, the government’s understanding and oversight of competition and maximising the benefit of competition throughout the commercial lifecycle. Juli Lau and Zena Stephenson take a glance at the NAO’s consolidated key…
September 08, 2023

Playing with framework agreements

Andrew Millross sets out some important considerations for contracting authorities after the Government published guidance on using the Sourcing Playbook in conjunction with framework agreements.
September 06, 2023

Part 2 Consultation on draft regulations to implement the Procurement Bill

On 17 July 2023, the Cabinet Office published the second instalment of the consultation on the draft regulations required to implement the new public procurement regime established by the Procurement Bill (the ‘Bill’). Nicola Sumner and Shyann Sheehy review the proposals.
August 18, 2023

Transparency in public procurement

Owen Wilcox examines the key notices and proposals in relation to transparency contained in the latest Government consultation.
August 18, 2023

An economic operator’s standing to bring a claim

In a dispute over the licence to run the National Lottery, the High Court has dismissed the UK's largest procurement damages claim. Colin Ricciardiello, Joe Walker and Jonathan Blunden explain why.
July 21, 2023

Minimal financial assistance for grant recipients

The Subsidy Control Act 2022 (the “Act”) introduced a new concept of minimal financial assistance (“MFA”), whereby public authorities can award low value subsidies without having to comply with the stringent requirements of the Act. As such, the MFA regime represents an attractive route for public authorities to award grant funding without performing the usual procedural steps.
June 23, 2023

The timing of procurement challenges

Would-be challengers and defending contracting authorities need to be aware of a number of unique timing factors, and the notoriously short timeframes, for the initial stages of procurement challenges. The Altiatech judgment usefully examines some of the key risk areas, write Zachary Bourne, Lloyd Nail and Ian Tucker.
June 23, 2023

Guidance on modifying a contract during its term

Natasha Barlow and Shyann Sheehy consider the implications for contracting authorities modifying a contract during its term as a result of the judgment in James Waste Management LLP v Essex County Council [2023].