# The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, Regulation 15: Abandonment of, or repetition of steps in, a procurement


(1) Subject to paragraphs (2) and (3), a relevant authority may—
(a) abandon a procurement of relevant health care services under these Regulations and not award a contract, or not conclude a framework agreement, or
(b) go back to an earlier step in the selection process and repeat that step and subsequent steps,
at any time before an award is made or a framework agreement concluded.
(2) In a standstill period, a relevant authority may only make a decision to—
(a) abandon a procurement, or
(b) go back to an earlier step in a selection process and repeat that step and subsequent steps,
where that decision is in accordance with the procedure and requirements in regulation 12.
(3) Where a relevant authority makes a decision referred to in paragraph (2), the relevant authority may only abandon the procurement or repeat those steps after the standstill period has ended.
(4) Where, having started a process to procure relevant health care services under these Regulations, a relevant authority decides to abandon a procurement, the relevant authority must submit for publication on the UK e-notification service a notice of that decision.
(5) The notice in paragraph (4) must be submitted for publication—
(a) where the decision is made in a standstill period—
(i) after the standstill period has ended, and
(ii) within 30 days of the end of that standstill period;
(b) in any other case, within 30 days of the decision to abandon the procurement.
(6) Where, having started a process to procure relevant health care services under these Regulations, a relevant authority decides to repeat a step or steps, the relevant authority must inform relevant providers of that decision in writing.
(7) Paragraph (6) is satisfied where a decision to repeat a step or steps has been communicated to a provider in accordance with regulation 12(6) or (8).
(8) In this regulation—
(a) a reference to a step in the selection process is to a step referred to in regulation 9 (Direct Award Process C), 10 (the Most Suitable Provider Process) or 11 (the Competitive Process) as the case may be;
(b) “relevant providers” in paragraph (6) means any provider who has been made aware in the selection process that they are being considered for the award of a contract or to be a party to a framework agreement.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2023/9780348252613/regulation/15 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-health-care-services-provider-selection-regime-regulations-2023/regulation-15
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.