Inevitably, a no-deal outcome will have a significant impact on a number of our sectors, but what does this actually mean for public procurement?
Currently, the UK operates under the Public Procurement Directives set out under the EU Legal Framework. Therefore, most procurement by local authorities, housing associations and care providers is governed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
If it’s a (Plan B) deal…
Nothing changes! The UK will continue to operate as it presently does under the Regulations, with full access to be able to publish notices in the Official Journal of the EU (OJEU).
If it’s a no deal…
The Regulations will largely remain the same, although they will be amended slightly to ensure that they remain operable and functional after Brexit. There will be no ‘UK versions’ of procurement documents; it is intended that the existing procedures and processes will continue as they are, but with one key difference – the UK will no longer have access to OJEU!
The impact of the loss of OJEU is more administrative than anything else. In simple terms, a new UK e-notification service, which is being set up by the Government, will replace OJEU. This new service will be up and running, ready for use on Brexit day, so notices that are legally required to be published on OJEU will be replaced with notices on the UK e-notification service.
However, the requirements to publish other opportunities on the UK domestic portals (such as Contracts Finder and Sell2Wales) will still apply; i.e. notices will still need to be sent to both the domestic portals and the UK e-notification service.
What to do next?
UK contracting authorities and entities currently using e-Senders (i.e. third parties) to submit OJEU notices will need to ensure that their e-Sender has successfully integrated the new UK e-notification service.
For contracting authorities who submit notices directly to OJEU, they will need to register notices directly with the new UK e-notification service instead of OJEU (the Government will provide further information on this in due course).
Suppliers looking for UK contract opportunities will need to access the UK e-notification service instead of Tenders Electronic Daily (TED).
For more information on what this means for you as a contracting authority or supplier, please contact Richard Brooks or Andrew Millross.
Although the exact date of the change is presently unknown, it is likely to be in or around April 2019 and will have a significant impact on estate administration and the costs of dying.
NHS England recently reported plans to recruit an ‘army of advisors’ to support GPs, following evidence that approximately half of all appointments were not related to medical conditions.
In injury claims, should you disclose the total figure of compensation to your injured party where they have suffered a brain injury and lack capacity to manage their finances?
Anthony Collins Solicitors first Social Impact Report attributes 91% of its 2017/18 work to directly improving lives, communities and society.
2019 is now in full swing and with it comes the first company secretary update of the year!
The Government announced in April 2018 that they would release new proposals at the end of 2018 and so, as we stretch in 2019, we now have the new consultation proposals.
A recent High Court decision could have repercussions for our clients who communicate via social media group accounts but don’t actually compose some or all of the messages the organisation posts.
Last night (31 January 2019), Anthony Collins Solicitors won Law Firm of the Year at the sixth, annual Eclipse Proclaim Modern Law Awards, held in Manchester.
Anthony Collins Solicitors shortlisted in four categories at BLS Awards.
We are no more than a few weeks into 2019, but already we are launched into the 'employee status' debate once again.
To receive invitations to our events, as well as information and articles on legal issues and sector developments that are of interest to you, please sign up to Newsroom.