Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key definition

Procurement definition

What does Procurement mean? Procurement describes how organisations plan, source, tender for and contract for works, goods and services, including appointing contractors, consultants and suppliers on construction projects. In practice it spans private purchasing and public procurement subject to statutory rules. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, public procurement is governed by the Procurement Act 2023 (which replaces the Public Contracts Regulations 2015), alongside sector-specific regimes (including utilities, concessions and defence/security) and guidance. Scotland applies the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. In Ireland, EU-derived regulations apply (for example S.I. No. 284/2016, S.I. No. 286/2016 and S.I. No. 203/2017)....

Public procurement challenges and remedies under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015: standstill, automatic suspension, damages, declarations of ineffectiveness and time limits (England, Wales and Northern Ireland)

Published by a LexisNexis Local Government expert

Practice notes

The remedies available to aggrieved bidders where a breach of the public Procurement regulations or other enforceable obligations arises in the public procurement arena are set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, SI 2015/102, Part 3.

Standstill period and contract award information

A contracting Authority must notify all candidates and tenderers (other than tenderers that have been 'definitively excluded') of its decision to award a public contract. The notification must include:

the criteria applied to the contract award
the reasons for the decision, including the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning tender
the score(s) of the party receiving the notice
the name and score(s) of the successful party
the legal effect of the standstill period

The standstill periods are:

where notices to bidders are sent by email or fax—ten days after the notice was sent
where notices to bidders are sent by other means—15 days after the notice was sent, or ten days after the last notice was received

If multiple notices are issued by differing means, the standstill period ends on whichever of the above time limits expires last...

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Deborah Ramshaw

Womble Bond Dickinson

Deborah is a nationally renowned procurement law specialist, noted for her commercial and pragmatic advice to clients. She is also WBD's Head of Procurement. Deborah advises clients in the public and private sector and uses her knowledge of acting for both sectors to provide practical advice on running processes which are as defensible as possible and advising bidders on how to challenge processes.Deborah has a particular interest in advising on procuring innovation and complex projects. Deborah has significant experience in establishing and using framework agreements. Deborah advises clients in a wide range of sectors including central and local government, NHS bodies, education, transport and utilities sectors and third sector organisations....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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