Procurement in a Nutshell – Framework Agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems

Previous recent Nutshells have focussed on the changes to Public Procurement in the light of Brexit, particularly the change to the filing requirements introduced by the Public Procurement (Amendment etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, Procurement Policy Note 08/20 and the e-notification service, Find a Tender (FTS).

Framework Agreements

Framework Agreements are set up in compliance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2016/102) to facilitate the award of a series of public contracts between named public authorities and named suppliers. They can be single supplier Framework Agreements, or multi-supplier Framework Agreements. They are limited to four years’ duration except in exceptional cases.

Any Framework Agreement that has already been established or launched with the publication of an OJEU notice prior to the end of the Transition Period will continue to be subject to the OJEU filing requirements for the duration of its lifespan, even if the Framework Agreement itself is awarded after 31st December 2020.  Relevant notices will include the contract award notice, contract amendments notices and corrigenda.

However, there is no requirement to publish a contract award notice in OJEU when there is a call-off of a specific contract under a Framework Agreement.  Specific contracts are considered to be covered by the Framework Agreement itself. There is a separate requirement, though, to publish the award of each contract on Contracts Finder. The contracting authority is required to publish the name of the contractor, the date on which the contract was entered into and the value of the contract.

Although PPN 08/20 requests that in these circumstances a contracting authority also publishes a notice on FTS, this is not a legal requirement. Doing so enables all contract award information to be accessed from a central location.

Dynamic Purchasing Systems

Dynamic Purchasing Systems have different filing requirements from a Framework Agreement. Under a Dynamic Purchasing System, there is always a requirement to publish a contract award notice each time a contract is awarded (although they can be saved up and published as a block on a quarterly basis). For existing Dynamic Purchasing Systems established or launched before the end of the Transition Period, therefore, this will require continuing publication in the OJEU.

Since a Dynamic Purchasing System does not have a set duration, this may mean the requirement to publish notices in the OJEU continues for many years to come. The contracting authority will already have published the period of validity of the Dynamic Purchasing System, and also must notify the OJEU of any change to this period.

A notice must be sent to the OJEU within 30 days of the award of each contract. Dynamic Purchasing Systems are also covered by a legal requirement to publish a notice on Contracts Finder. Publication on Contracts Finder must be within a reasonable time, but must not be before the notice has been published on the OJEU.  The notice must cover the name of the successful contractor, the date the contract was entered into and the value of the contract.

As above, the government requests that a notice is also sent to FTS but this is not a legal requirement.

For further information on existing Framework Agreements or Dynamic Purchasing Systems, please contact the procurement team or Melanie Pears.