The first two PPNs of 2021

Here are details of the first two PPNs for 2021:

• PPN 01/21 is a helpful summary of the options available for emergency procurement. No doubt in response to the National Audit Office report on Covid procurement strategy, it contains guidance that even where the negotiated without publication for urgency route is used (which will be increasingly rarely) the authority should consider whether some sort of competition is nonetheless possible (such as, for example, obtaining three quotes).
• PPN 02/21 covers the implications of accession to the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) and the EU-UK Trade Cooperation Agreement (TCA). It says that by complying with the Public Contracts Regulations (PCR) 2015, an authority will be complying with the GPA. Appended to the PPN is a list of obligations coming out of the TCA.
  • the headline point is that compliance with the PCR 2015 (or equivalent UCR/CCR Regs) will comply with the TCA.
  • but NOTE in relation to abnormally low tenders, the following: 
    
    What can contracting authorities do if they receive an abnormally low tender? The TCA also provides that if a supplier submits a tender with an abnormally low price, the contracting authority may ask the supplier if the price takes into account subsidies. This is not stated in the PCR or UCR and you will need to treat the PCR and UCR as if they had been amended to reflect this right.