A new Schedule 1 to the Public Contracts Regulations (PCRs) 2015 has been published and comes into force on 16 August 2021. The new schedule applies to NHS Foundation Trusts and NHS England who will need to apply lower procurement threshold for the application of the PCRs 2015 to the procurement of supplies and services.
This is a key schedule which sets out a list of named “central government contracting authorities”. Central government contracting authorities are subject to a lower threshold for supplies and services contracts (£122,976, as opposed to sub-central authorities, which are not expressly listed in Schedule 1 and for whom that threshold is £189,330).
Schedule 1 has not been updated for some time. The new list of central government authorities has been divided into two parts – part 1 lists those authorities which are listed in the Government Procurement Agreement and part 2 lists those which are not. All the authorities listed in both parts 1 and 2 are central government authorities for the purposes of the Regulations.
The change is particularly relevant to NHS Foundation Trusts and NHS England, which historically have regarded themselves as sub-central authorities but which are now listed in the new Schedule 1 as central government authorities. The lower threshold will therefore apply to Foundation Trusts and NHS England from 16th August.
For more information on the updated list of central government authorities, head over to our sister blog, Procurement portal.
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