Breaking Down the Impact of Brexit on UK Public Procurement and OJEU

The UK's departure from the EU on January 1, 2021, marked a significant shift in public procurement processes. For years, the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) served as the platform for publishing public sector contracts that exceeded a defined procurement threshold.

However, with the UK's exit from the EU, UK public sector contracts are no longer required to be published on the OJEU.

Where Can we Find Public Sector Procurement Tenders?

So where can businesses find high-value public sector procurement tenders now? The UK government introduced Find a Tender (FTS) in 2021, an e-tendering platform that standardises and simplifies the tendering process. All new procurement notices must now be published on this platform, which can be used to search for high-value opportunities or awarded contracts across the United Kingdom.

Opportunities and awarded contracts on Find a Tender usually exceed £122,976, although this figure may vary in some cases. However, for contracts over £10,000 (or £25,000 outside of central government), information can still be found on other platforms such as:

• Contracts Finder (for England)

• Public Contracts Scotland (for Scotland)

• Sell2Wales (for Wales)

• eTendersNI (for Northern Ireland).

Public Procurement Threshold Governance

After January 1st, 2021, the UK's procurement thresholds are no longer regulated by the European Union. Instead, they are now regulated by the World Trade Organization's (WTO's) Government Procurement Agreement (GPA).

This change won't affect the UK significantly since significant economies, including Japan, the United States, Canada, and the EU, follow the WTO's GPA. The UK can now access over £1.3 trillion worth of overseas government contracts while overseas contractors can tender for £67 billion worth of public sector contracts in the UK every year.

Contracts listed below the GPA threshold won't be regulated by the GPA, so the UK government has complete control over them. However, UK suppliers can still bid for OJEU tenders, but they must comply with existing EU procurement regulations as part of the trade deal between the UK and the EU.