Overview
This PPN is relevant to all contracting authorities which come within scope of UK public procurement regulations, including central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies, the wider public sector, local authority and NHS bodies and utilities. Together these are referred to as ‘contracting authorities’.
Contracting authorities should take action to ensure they comply with the amendments to which this PPN relates where it is relevant to do so. This means procurement above the thresholds set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCRs), Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (UCRs) and Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 (CCRs).
This PPN describes changes to public procurement requirements arising from the UK’s Free Trade Agreements with Australia and New Zealand. These amendments apply to all procurements, not just those involving Australian and New Zealand suppliers.
The PPN refers to the following changes:
- contracts whose value cannot be estimated must be treated as exceeding the relevant threshold by contracting authorities, meaning that these contracts will be subject to the full procurement regime
- sub-central contracting authorities cannot use a prior information notice (PIN) or periodic indicative notice as a call for competition instead of a standard contract notice
- contracting authorities should not terminate contracts in a manner that would circumvent procurement law obligations.