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LATEST NEWS
Contracts with suppliers from Russia and Belarus
An interesting and welcome Procurement Policy Note (PPN) was published on 28 March 2022 in line with sanctions levied by HMG following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. PPN 01/22 provides guidance as to how contracting authorities can “further cut ties with companies backed by the states of Russia and Belarus”.
Which organisations does PPN 01/22 affect?
Namely, this guidance applies to:
- Central Government Departments;
- Their Executive Agencies; and
- Non-Departmental Public Bodies.
The above contracting authorities must implement the guidance with immediate effect; the wider public sector is also encouraged to “conduct appropriate and proportionate due diligence” and consider the PPN’s application.
PPN 01/22 Requirements
The PPN requires in-scope organisations to:
- Review their contract portfolio;
- Identify any contracts where Russian or Belarusian suppliers are a prime contractor or are part of the supply chain;
- Consider terminating applicable agreements in accordance with the terms of the contract (if a Russian/Belarusian is a prime contractor);
- Terminate applicable contracts if an alternative supplier can feasibly be sourced with minimal disruption to services. (Care must also be taken to ensure that new appointments do not impact upon value for money for the authority and the taxpayer).
Reviewing and terminating existing contracts
When reviewing contracts, in-scope authorities will need to ensure that they are equally compliant with both PPN 01/22 and the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Comprehensive risk assessments should be undertaken before effecting contract termination.
Conducting new procurements
At present, there is no requirement to exclude Russian and Belarusian suppliers from forthcoming or live procurements. However, in-scope bodies can “decline to consider” bids from Russian/Belarusian suppliers as long as they are not registered in the UK and/or do not have significant operations in the UK.
Net-Zero and the Changing Procurement Landscape
Since 2019, the Cabinet Office has published a series of Playbooks which describe the Government’s overarching strategy and tactical approaches to sourcing in general, as well as in key procurement areas such as consultancy and construction.
Whilst the Playbooks are designed for professionals across central government departments who are responsible for the planning/delivery of projects and procurement activities, the team at NewBusiness.Dev find that these insights are invaluable in supporting our clients to win public tenders.
The most recent edition to this suite of guidance is the Net-Zero Estate Playbook, published by the Government Property Function. Applicable to both new and existing public properties, it builds on the outcome based-approach of the Construction Playbook, capturing best practices and guidelines to decarbonise the built environment. The publication focuses on overall programme management and structuring, as well as identifying project-based actions such as using greener building materials and products across the public estate.
It is also important to note that, in 2021, the Cabinet Office also published Procurement Policy Note 06/21, setting out how suppliers’ commitment to Net Zero should be taken into account in the procurement of Government contracts. Looking ahead, a Carbon Reduction Plan will likely be a key requirement for tenderers in most (if not all) contracts, regardless of their value. This is a major development that many of our SME clients have had to rapidly upskill themselves on.
Therefore, we’ve dedicated a specific page that aims to help smaller customers create their first Net Zero plans. Learn more about this service here.
Stotles & NewBusiness.Dev partner up – Find & Win Better Public Sector Opportunities Faster!
We are proud to announce our partnership with Stotles!
Stotles is a London based start-up which offers a unique sales platform fuelled by powerful data to help businesses gain insights into, and get ahead of, the £9.3 trillion public sector market.
Sales and bid teams use Stotles to save you time finding, creating, organising, and acting on more relevant opportunities in the public sector.
Our partnership with Stotles adds new, sharper tools to the belts of our customers. It will provide end-to-end guidance for navigating public sector sales and procurement cycles – from sourcing opportunities, all the way to winning them.
The Partnership Headlines
The partnership will deliver a co-offering to current customers and the broader market:
- Anyone can start finding relevant opportunities using Stotles Basics for free.
- Eligible NewBusiness.Dev clients receive NewBusiness.Dev partner-level access to Stotles – enabling additional client support to find better and earlier opportunities.
- Stotles & NewBusiness.Dev will jointly provide practical guidance to the broader market.