Public Supply Contracts Regulations 1995
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1995/201 |
| Year | 1995 |
1995 No. 201
PUBLIC PROCUREMENT
The Public Supply Contracts Regulations 1995
Made 30th January 1995
Laid before Parliament 31th January 1995
Coming into force 21th February 1995
The Treasury, being designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to public procurement, in exercise of the powers conferred upon them by the said section 2(2) and of all other powers enabling them in that behalf, hereby make the following Regulations:—
PART I
GENERAL
Title and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Public Supply Contracts Regulations 1995 and shall come into force on 21st February 1995.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“to award” means to accept an offer made in relation to a proposed contract;
“the Commission” means the European Commission;
“contract documents” means the invitation to tender for or to negotiate the contract, the proposed conditions of contract, the specifications or description of the goods required by the contracting authority, and all documents supplementary thereto;
“contract notice” means a notice sent to the Official Journal in accordance with regulation 11(2), 12(2) or 13(2);
“contracting authority” has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 3;
“ECUECU” means the European Currency Unit as defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No. 3180/783;
“established” means the same as it does for the purposes of the Community Treaties;
“financial year” means the period of 12 months ending on 31st March in any year or, in relation to any person whose accounts are prepared in respect of a different 12 month period, that period of 12 months;
“a GATTGATT contracting authority” means one of the entities specified in Schedule 1, being entities in respect of which special provision is made by these Regulations in pursuance of the obligations of the Economic Community under the Agreement on Government Procurement between certain parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATTGATT) signed in Geneva on 12 April 19794;
“goods” includes electricity, substances, growing crops and things attached to or forming part of the land which are agreed to be severed before the purchase or hire under the supply contract and any ship, aircraft or vehicle;
“government department” includes a Northern Ireland department or the head of such department;
“Minister of the Crown” means the holder of an office in Her Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom, and includes the Treasury;
“national of a relevant State” means, in the case of a person who is not an individual, a person formed in accordance with the laws of a relevant State and which has its registered office, central administration or principal place of business in a relevant State;
“negotiated procedure” means a procedure leading to the award of a public supply contract whereby a contracting authority negotiates the terms of the contract with one or more persons selected by it;
“Official Journal” means the Official Journal of the European Communities;
“open procedure” means a procedure leading to the award of a public supply contract whereby all interested persons may tender for the contract;
“prior information notice” means a notice sent to the Official Journal in accordance with regulation 9;
“public supply contract” means a contract in writing for consideration (whatever the nature of the consideration)—
(a) for the purchase of goods by a contracting authority (whether or not the consideration is given in instalments and whether or not the purchase is conditional upon the occurrence of a particular event), or
(b) for the hire of goods by a contracting authority (both where the contracting authority becomes the owner of the goods after the end of the period of hire and where it does not),
and for any siting or installation of those goods, but where under such a contract services are also to be provided, the contract shall only be a public supply contract where the value of the consideration attributable to the goods and any siting or installation of the goods is equal to or greater than the value attributable to the services;
“relevant State” means a member State, Hungary, Poland, Iceland, Norway and, as from the date that the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 19925, as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 19936, is in force in relation to it, Liechtenstein;
“restricted procedure” means a procedure leading to the award of a public supply contract whereby only persons selected by the contracting authority may submit tenders for the contract;
“ship” includes any boat and other description of a vessel used in navigation;
“substance” means any natural or artificial substance, whether in solid, liquid or gaseous form or in the form of a vapour;
“supplier” has the meaning ascribed to it by regulation 4;
“working day” means a day other than a Saturday, Sunday or Bank Holiday (within the meaning of the Banking and Financial Dealings Act 19717); and
“year” means a calendar year.
(2) The value in the currency of any relevant State of any amount expressed in these Regulations in ECUECU or of the amount in ECUECU for the purposes of regulation 7(2) shall be calculated by reference to the exchange rate for the time being applying for the purposes of Council Directive 93/36/EEC8as published from time to time in the Official Journal9.
(3) Where a thing is required to be done under these Regulations—
(a)
(a) within a period after an action is taken, the day on which that action was taken shall not be counted in the calculation of that period;
(b)
(b) within a certain period, that period must include two working days;
(c)
(c) within a period and the last day of that period is not a working day, the period shall be extended to include the following working day.
(4) References in these Regulations to a regulation are references to a regulation in these Regulations and references to a Schedule are references to a Schedule to these Regulations.
Contracting Authorities
3.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations each of the following is a “contracting authority”—
(a)
(a) a Minister of the Crown,
(b)
(b) a government department,
(c)
(c) the House of Commons,
(d)
(d) the House of Lords,
(e)
(e) the Northern Ireland Assembly,
(f)
(f) a local authority,
(g)
(g) a fire authority constituted by a combination scheme under the Fire Services Act 194710,
(h)
(h) the Fire Authority for Northern Ireland,
(i)
(i) a police authority established under section 3 of the Police Act 196411,
(j)
(j) the Police Authority for Northern Ireland,
(k)
(k) an authority established under section 10 of the Local Government Act 198512,
(l)
(l) a joint authority established by Part IV of that Act,
(m)
(m) any body established pursuant to an order under section 67 of that Act,
(n)
(n) the Broads Authority,
(o)
(o) any joint board the constituent members of which consist of any of the bodies specified in paragraphs (f), (g), (i), (k), (l), (m) and (n), above,
(p)
(p) a joint or special planning board constituted for a National Park,
(q)
(q) a joint education board constituted under the provisions of Part I of the first Schedule to the Education Act 194413,
(r)
(r) a corporation established, or a group of individuals appointed to act together, for the specific purposes of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character, and—
(i) financed wholly or mainly by another contracting authority, or
(ii) subject to management supervision by another contracting authority, or
(iii) more than half of the board of directors or members of which, or, in the case of a group of individuals, more than half of those individuals, being appointed by another contracting authority,
(s)
(s) an association of or formed by one or more of the above, and
(t)
(t) to the extent not specified in sub-paragraphs (a) to (q) above, a GATTGATT contracting authority.
(2) In the application of these Regulations to England and Wales, “local authority” in paragraph (1) above means—
(a)
(a) a county council, a county borough council, a district council, a London borough council, a parish council, a community council or the Council of the Isles of Scilly;
(b)
(b) the Common Council of the City of London in its capacity as local authority or police authority.
(3) In the application of these Regulations to Scotland, “local authority” in paragraph (1) above has the same meaning as in section 235(1) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and also includes joint board or joint committee within the meaning of section 23514.
(4) In the application of these Regulations to Northern Ireland, “local authority” in paragraph (1) above means a district council within the meaning of the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 197215.
(5) Where an entity specified in paragraph (1) above does not have the capacity to enter into a contract, the contracting authority in relation to that entity is a person whose function it is to enter into contracts for that entity.
Suppliers
4.—(1) For the purposes of these Regulations a “supplier” means a person—
(a)
(a) who sought, or who seeks, or who would have wished, to be the person to whom a public supply contract is awarded, and
(b)
(b) who is a national of and established in a relevant State.
(2) Where these Regulations apply a contracting authority shall not treat a person who is not a national of and established in a relevant State more favourably than one who is.
Application of the Regulations
5. These Regulations apply whenever a contracting authority seeks offers in relation to a proposed public supply contract other than a public supply contract excluded from the application of these Regulations by virtue of regulation 6 or 7.
General exclusions
6. These...
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