{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/procurement-act-2023/section-79",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/procurement-act-2023/section-79.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/2023/54",
  "legislation_title": "Procurement Act 2023",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/procurement-act-2023",
  "path": "section/79",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "79",
  "heading": "Terminating public contracts: national security",
  "text": "(1) A relevant contracting authority may not terminate a contract by reference to the implied term in section 78 on the basis of the discretionary exclusion ground in paragraph 14 of Schedule 7 (threat to national security) unless—\n(a) the authority has notified a Minister of the Crown of its intention, and\n(b) the Minister considers that—\n(i) the supplier or sub-contractor is an excludable supplier by reference to paragraph 14 of Schedule 7, and\n(ii) the contract should be terminated.\n(2) A relevant contracting authority may not terminate a contract by reference to the implied term in section 78 on the basis of the mandatory exclusion ground in paragraph 35 of Schedule 6 (threat to national security) unless the authority has notified a Minister of the Crown of its intention.\n(3) In this section, a “relevant contracting authority” means a contracting authority other than—\n(a) a Minister of the Crown or a government department,\n(b) the Corporate Officer of the House of Commons, or\n(c) the Corporate Officer of the House of Lords.",
  "extent": "E+W+S+N.I.",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C1",
      "text": "S. 79 applied (24.2.2025) by S.I. 2013/1582, reg. 6(2), Sch. 2 Pt. 1 (as amended by The Procurement Act 2023 (Consequential and Other Amendments) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025/163), regs. 1(2), 17 (with reg. 33))"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I1",
      "text": "S. 79 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 127(2)"
    },
    {
      "type": "I",
      "label": "I2",
      "text": "S. 79 in force at 24.2.2025 by S.I. 2024/716, Sch. (as amended by S.I. 2024/959, regs. 1(2), 2(7)(a))"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/section/79",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T08:50:42.097136+00:00",
    "licence": "OGL-UK-3.0",
    "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
    "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
  }
}