Recent decisions, including by Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, highlight contracting authorities (‘CAs’) ability to abandon a procurement process where appropriate.
Here the CA decided to withdraw a £65 million pound contract award after legal action was commenced by an unsuccessful bidder. This is not the first time the courts have
On 16 December 2024, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (“MHCLG”) released the English Devolution White Paper (the “White Paper”), setting out plans to develop devolution in England with the intention of “unleashing power from Whitehall back into local communities that know their areas best”.
The Government announced plans to merge local authorities
On 11 December the Competition and Markets Authority (‘CMA’) announced that it had launched an investigation into suspected bid-rigging in relation to a key government fund for improving the condition of school buildings. Bid-rigging has serious competition and procurement implications, and the CMA has issued almost £60 million in fines in the last year alone to firms who
Bus franchising is a model for providing bus services where local authorities have the power to determine the details of the services being provided, including where they run, when they run and the standards of the service.
Usually, this will involve the local authority letting an appropriate contract to a bus operator who will provide the service. This model is
Recent reports, such as that published by Middlesbrough Council earlier this year exploring their value for money arrangements, have outlined how some local authorities have struggled to secure economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the use of resources. With several high-profile section 114 notices also being issued by authorities including Birmingham City Council in late 2023, this article explores key
Allan Owen and Beth Edwards provide a summary of the High Court’s recent Judgement in Tata Consultancy Services Ltd v Disclosure and Barring Service which provides useful guidance on limits of liability.[1]
The Disclosure and Barring Service (“DBS”) entered into a contract with Tata Consultancy Services Limited (“TCS”) for both the operation of “business
