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Procurement law is a fast moving and evolving area.  It presents a number of challenges for commissioners to ensure that they comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006, overarching EC Treaty principles, and the requirements of policy and guidance.  It is an area of law that newly formed GP consortia will need to comply with.

Developments in the law governing the procurement of Part B services (which includes health and social care) has required increased attention to procurement law requirements.  Contract opportunities in the health and social care sector often now need to be advertised and a fair and transparent tender process followed. 

We provide preventative procurement advice to manage risk, design robust and defensible procurement processes and defend procurement law challenges through both the courts and the NHS dispute procedure, as well as deflecting challenges pre-issue. The team has an in-depth understanding of the Department of Health’s guidance on procurement and commissioning, which are of critical importance to the governance of Health Sector commissioning.  We advised on one of the first schemes referred to the NHS Cooperation and Competition Panel.

We are experienced in the conduct of defensible procurement processes, advising on the process from the outset through advert/OJEU, PQQ and short listing, ITT/ITN/ITPD and evaluation/dialogue, standstill and award.

Procurement challenges are an increasing risk as a result of recent UK and ECJ case law which provide bidders with many tools and routes to challenge.  The resulting requirement for greater transparency

in the conduct of tender processes, for example around evaluation criteria, create an increased risk of challenge. We have noted from first hand experience an increasing number of challenges against tenders conducted by public sector bodies.

Key Services

• Procurement strategy
• Market engagement
• Procurement process
• Procurement documentation
• Drafting contracts
• Confidentiality and Freedom of Information Act
• Defending procurement challenges

• Training & Events
• Current Topics