The Public Procurement (Agreement on Government Procurement) (Thresholds) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 (the Regulations) were published on 26 October 2023 and will come into force on 1 January 2024, updating the financial thresholds for the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016, and the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016.
The Regulations slightly increase most of the current thresholds, with the Light Touch Regime remaining unchanged. Contracting authorities should note the following thresholds, and remember that these remain inclusive of VAT.
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015
|
Contract Type |
Threshold until 31 December 2023 (inclusive of VAT) |
Threshold from 1 January 2024 (inclusive of VAT) |
|
Public works contracts |
£5,336,937 |
£5,372,609 |
|
Public supply contracts and public services contracts (Central Government) |
£138,760 |
£139,688 |
|
Public supply contracts and public services contracts (all other contracting authorities) |
£213,477 |
£214,904 |
|
Public service contracts for social and other specific services under the Light Touch Regime |
£663,540 |
£663,540 (unchanged) |
The Concession Contracts Regulations 2016
|
Contract Type |
Threshold until 31 December 2023 (inclusive of VAT) |
Threshold from 1 January 2024 (inclusive of VAT) |
|
Concession contracts |
£5,336,937 |
£5,372,609 |
The Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016
|
Contract Type |
Threshold until 31 December 2023 (inclusive of VAT) |
Threshold from 1 January 2024 (inclusive of VAT) |
|
Supplies and Services |
£426,955 |
£429,809 |
|
Works contracts |
£5,336,937 |
£5,372,609 |
The new thresholds will have effect from 1 January 2024.
Thresholds under the Procurement Act 2023
The Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023, and the final version of the Act contains explicit references to the existing thresholds, notably in section 85 (regulated below-threshold contracts) and Schedule 1 (threshold amounts).
In light of the above, the Act will need to be updated to take account of the changes to the thresholds with effect from 1 January 2024 (or risk being out of date almost immediately!).
As there is a wider legislative framework still to come (through the secondary legislation which was consulted upon earlier this year), it seems likely that any updates to reflect the threshold changes will come at the same time as the further secondary legislation. We can therefore expect the first set of amending regulations to the Act to come through in relatively short order … watch this space!
