Regulated procurement | UK Regulatory Outlook October 2022

NHS procurement breach not 'sufficiently serious' to award damages

A new judgment that has been handed down by the High Court in relation to whether a breach of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 is "sufficiently serious" to warrant an award of damages could have strategic ramifications for authorities and suppliers. In Braceurself Limited v NHS England, the claimant was successful in arguing that it should have been awarded a public contract worth £2.5m for the provision of orthodontic services, after the authority wrongly mis-scored one element of its bid. The authority mistook the claimant's proposal to use a "stair climber" with a stair lift, which are not the same. The NHS procurement breach, however, was considered not "sufficiently serious" to award damages. Read our Insight for further analysis.

Procurement Bill 2022-2023

The Procurement Bill is still at the committee stage in the House of Lords. There has been an update made to the page highlighting that the most recent sitting took place on 24 October and the next sitting is on 26 October 2022. Following this, the bill will move to the report stage for further scrutiny.