Part 10 of the Procurement Act introduces the Procurement Review Unit, with focus on debarment, supplier complaint, and systemic and institutional non-compliance.
Procurement Review Unit
Part 10 creates a new Procurement Review Unit which will be made up of three separate services:
- An expanded form of the existing Public Procurement Review Services (PPRS)
- A Procurement Compliance Service (PCS)
- A Debarment Review Service (DRS)
Referrals can be made by anyone via a .gov.uk web page (although only suppliers may refer to the PPRS).
The PPRS will handle supplier complaints and also monitor authority compliance with the prompt payment obligations in the Act. It will also act as a triage mechanism deciding which complaints should be taken further to investigation. Systemic and institutional non-compliance will be passed to the Procurement Compliance Service.
The PCS will investigate and report (publicly) on institutional or systemic non-compliance and has the power to make recommendations.
The DRS owns and maintains the Debarment List of suppliers who have been debarred or potentially debarred from participating in public procurement via the new debarment regime brought in by the Act. Debarment decisions are taken centrally, while exclusion decisions are taken by each contracting authority on a case by case basis.
The government will also use the PRU to monitor how the new legislation is working in practice. The PRU is likely to be helpful as a source of expertise and guidance.
There will be limitations on its impact, particularly around resourcing and lack of enforcement powers – it won’t be analogous to, say, the Employment Tribunal. While the PRU may make recommendations that an authority will have a duty to implement, it will have no power to adjudicate on the lawfulness of a particular procurement – this will require, as now, a High Court challenge.
Government guidance on Procurement Oversight is available here.
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