The Procurement bill is still being scrutinised by Parliament and the Senedd, meaning the bill is subject to change.
There are parts of the bill that currently do not apply to contracting authorities in Wales (called carve outs). These have been listed below with the reasons why they will not apply in Wales:
- The bill states that for contracts valued over £2 million, or modified contracts with a value over £2 million, contracting authorities must publish a copy of that contract on the Central Platform. However, Welsh contracting authorities will not be required to follow this rule as Welsh Ministers have agreed that most of this information will already be in the public domain.
- The bill states that a separate pre-qualification (PQQ) stage for below threshold procurements must not be used. This will not be the case for Welsh contracting authorities who can continue to use the PQQ stage for below threshold procurement if they see a benefit in doing so.
Furthermore, the bill makes provision for the Welsh Ministers to publish a Wales Procurement Policy Statement, and for Welsh contracting authorities to consider this when undertaking procurement functions.
Welsh Ministers have secured standalone, equivalent regulation-making powers in most areas of the bill and will need to develop and implement relevant secondary legislation. We will engage and update stakeholders as this work progresses.
If you have any queries on the Procurement Bill, please e-mail: ProcurementReformTeam@gov.wales