UK Public Procurement from 1 January 2021

In this update we discuss the key legal and practical changes faced by UK/EU suppliers competing for regulated contracts after the end of the Brexit transition period. The UK Government has already published extensive plans to overhaul the UK regime, but those changes are unlikely to be effective for many months to come – so what has changed for suppliers from 1 January 2021?

In short, for above-threshold regulated procurement, there is currently very little practical change in terms of processes and procedures. However, suppliers do now need to consider three key questions when assessing which post-Brexit rules apply:

1. Is the procurement in the UK or an EU member state?
2. If a UK procurement, was it commenced before the end of the transition period (i.e. 11:00 p.m. 31 December 2020)?
3. Is the procurement above-or-below-threshold?