Government issues procurement policy note on preparing UK for leaving EU

The Cabinet Office has this week (7 March) issued a procurement policy note on how the UK’s public procurement regulations will be affected in the event of either an agreed deal with the EU or a no deal exit from the EU.

It has also issued a response to frequently asked questions on a no-deal Brexit. Both documents can be viewed here.

The policy note is directly applicable to all contracting authorities, including Central Government Departments, Executive Agencies, Non Departmental Public Bodies, the wider public sector, local authorities and NHS bodies, and utilities.

The Cabinet Office said that in either a deal or no deal scenario, the public procurement regime (the procurement procedures, financial thresholds, etc.) would remain “broadly unchanged”.

It added that in the event of a deal, the current procurement regulatory framework would continue to apply, unamended, during the implementation period.

In the event of no deal, contracting authorities will need to take action, the Cabinet Office said. “In particular, they will need to publish public procurement notices to a new UK e-notification service that will replace the EU Publications Office.”

Annexes to the policy note provide further details on each scenario.

“More information will be issued when the final position is known,” the Cabinet Office said.

The FAQs for a no-deal Brexit cover a range of topics, namely: UK e-notification service; thresholds; timings; procedures; suppliers; standards; and further information.