26 October 2023 also marked the publication of The Public Procurement (Agreement on Government Procurement) (Thresholds) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (the "Regulations"), following a scheduled review of the current thresholds. Unlike the Procurement Act, the Regulations will come into force relatively soon, on the 1 January 2024. The Regulations will update and slightly increase the financial thresholds set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016, and the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016.
Contracting authorities should note that the Regulations will not affect any procurement that has commenced prior to 1 January 2024, due to the Regulations' transitionary provisions. Nevertheless, contracting authorities should be aware of the threshold changes to ensure they are able to correctly identify which contracts will be subject to certain procurement rules once the Regulations come into force.
Current financial thresholds vs the new financial thresholds
Public Contracts Regulations 2015:
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Central Government bodies*: |
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|
Contract type |
Threshold until 31 December 2023 (inclusive of VAT) |
Threshold from 1 January 2024 (inclusive of VAT) |
|
Supply Contracts |
£138,760 |
£139,688 |
|
Services Contracts |
£138,760 |
£139,688 |
