Draft Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019

Greg Knight Excerpts

Wednesday 13th February 2019 General Committees

[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Oliver Dowden)]

I beg to move,

That the Committee has considered the draft Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019.

May I say what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Henry? The Government are committed to securing an agreement on the UK’s exit from the EU, but clearly we must be prepared for all outcomes. The legal framework for the regulation of public procurement by the Government and public sector bodies is essential to the day-to-day running of the public sector and to the economy. If no deal is reached with the EU, certain aspects of that legal framework will be deficient, leaving the public sector and businesses without legal clarity. The statutory instrument therefore seeks to address those deficiencies in a no-deal scenario.

The amendments in the draft regulations provide a balance between the need to maintain continuity based on the established framework and principles, and the need to correct those deficiencies to the extent permitted by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. Principally, the statutory instrument amends three sets of regulations that implement EU directives on awarding contracts and concessions in the public and utilities sectors outside the field of defence and security.

One of the key amendments is to replace the requirement to publish contract notices in the Official Journal of the European Union with a requirement to submit notices to the UK e-notification service. That is intended simply to comply with the publication requirements of the World Trade Organisation agreement on Government procurement. The UK e-notification service is being developed and is on track to be in place by exit day.

[Sir Greg Knight (East Yorkshire) (Con)]

I realise that the explanatory memorandum does not officially form part of the instrument we are debating, but it is there to help us. Paragraph 6.6 of the memorandum states:

“There are some deficiencies in the Regulations that have not been fixed in this instrument.”

Can the Minister tell us what those deficiencies are, when they are likely to be fixed and debated, and why we are doing this in a piecemeal manner?

[Oliver Dowden]

I am happy to write to my right hon. Friend with fuller details, but the instrument essentially seeks to align the procurement regime we have under the EU and bring it into UK law. There will be further opportunities to fix deficiencies as we continue to reform regulation in a post-EU environment.