Concession Contracts Regulations 2016

From 1 January 2024, the threshold for the purposes of the CCR 2016 (for both works and services concessions) is £5,372,609, now inclusive of VAT.

Regulation 9 sets out detailed rules about how to calculate the potential value of the concession for the purposes of establishing whether the threshold is exceeded.

Broadly speaking, the value of the concession is the estimation by the contracting authority/utility of the total turnover of the concessionaire generated over the duration of the contract, inclusive of VAT, in consideration for the works and services which are the object of the concession contract and for the supplies incidental to such works and services.

These concession contracts are: 

• Contracts for pecuniary interest concluded in writing between a contracting authority/utility and an economic operator/(s)
• Where the consideration (or ‘payment’) is either:
  • simply that the contractor has the right to exploit (that is, to profit from) the works/services that are the subject of the contract, or
  • where the contractor has that right together with some payment from the contracting authority/utility.

Regulation 3(4) of the CCR 2016 further defines the necessary characteristics of the arrangement for the purposes of the regime, which: 

• Must transfer to the contractor the operating risk in exploiting the works or services encompassing demand or supply risk or both
• The part of the risk transferred to the concessionaire involves real exposure to the vagaries of the market, such that any potential estimated loss incurred by the concessionaire is not merely nominal or negligible. 

Note there is an assumption that the contractor assumes operating risk where, under normal operating conditions, it's not guaranteed to recoup the investments made or the costs incurred in operating the works or the services.

Regulation 25 requires an authority to: 

• Send a concession notice to the OJEU to publicise the opportunity (NB if the concessions if for the so-called “Light Touch Regime” services listed at Schedule 3 of the CCR 2016, you need only publish a PIN) and also to publish a concession award notice post-award.
• Publish the concessions documents electronically from the date of the concession notice (or, if this does not invite tenders, from the date of the ITT). This provision mirrors that in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) with a similarly wide definition of “concession documents” which encompasses the PQQ, ITT, terms and conditions, evaluation method and specification. On a strict reading of the regulation all these documents must be published on day one, but guidance from the Crown Commercial Service suggests there may be some latitude to interpret the regulation flexibly. Read more about this at our blog post on the topic (we assume the CCS will recommend the same approach under the CCR 2016 as under the PCR 2015).
• Limit the duration is limited to a maximum of five years (unless the contractor can show that longer is reasonably required to allow a return on its investment).
• To observe the procedural guarantees set out at Regulation 35 onwards, for example:
  • Set out technical specifications (usual rules on equivalents, etc.) 
  • Publish objective award criteria which are linked to the subject-matter of the contract in order of importance (note that there is an option to change the ranking of the criteria where an innovative bid (as defined) is submitted which a diligent concession granter could not have foreseen).
  • There's a possibility of negotiation but this may not alter the subject matter of the concession contract, or the award criteria or minimum requirements
  • Observe minimum time limits
  • Apply mandatory and discretionary exclusion criteria

The regime around the sending of Award Decision Notices and the holding of a standstill period mirrors that in the PCR 2015 and so hopefully will be familiar to contracting authorities and utilities.

The routes to challenge also mirror those in the PCR 2015 (including the possibility for a supplier to make a claim for a declaration of ineffectiveness if it believes one of the three grounds for such a declaration is met).

The provisions on modifications mirror those in the PCR 2015, meaning that variations can be made where these were clearly precisely and unequivocally set out in the original contract.

Of course it is often difficult to foresee variations that may be needed further down the line; if the variation is not clearly set out in the original contract then the parties will need to test whether it falls within one of the ‘safe harbours’ set out at Regulation 43(1).

The CCR 2016 contain no direct equivalent of the PCR 2015’s “Regulation 84 Report” – however concession granters do need to be ready to send such reports about the award process or the contract to the Cabinet Office as it might request.