Explanatory note

Chapter 8 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 creates obligations in respect of contracts of central government authorities, sub-central contracting authorities or NHS Trusts which, due to their value, would not be otherwise regulated. These Regulations increase the value of a contract which triggers these obligations. This increase takes account of amendments made by the Public Procurement (Agreement on Government Procurement) (Thresholds) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S.I. 2021/1221), which provided that the threshold amounts were inclusive of VAT. This effectively lowered the threshold values and resulted in an increased burden for in-scope contracting authorities. The substituted amounts effectively reinstate the previous thresholds.

Contracts which fall within the scope of Chapter 8 must be published on Contracts Finder, an online database of public sector online contract opportunities. Contracting authorities must not include a pre-qualification stage in relation to these contracts.

These Regulations also provide that NHS Foundations Trusts are to be treated in the same way as NHS Trusts for the purposes of Chapter 8.