Transparency requirements updated in PPN 01/17

The PPN now applies to all central government authorities (‘authorities’) and all of their suppliers. It should be incorporated by authorities and suppliers immediately along with any other relevant Government guidance on the transparency principles.

The Specifics

The PPN upholds the presumption in favour of disclosing information for the majority of government contracts. Although it notes that exceptions to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 continue to apply, it emphasises that the exemption of commercial confidentiality should only be used by exception rather than as a rule. The PPN gives three categories in which information can be reasonably withheld on these grounds. They are pricing (the way the supplier arrived at the price they charge the authority not the overall contract value), intellectual property (not including performance information), and business plans demonstrating how the supplier intends to yield a financial return from the service.

The guidance is produced in line with the Open Data Principles and Government’s Transforming Public Procurement reforms. It also encourages authorities and suppliers to proactively release information and specifically states these organisations should ensure that:

• Information is accessible to the public and updated regularly, including information regarding any significant changes that happen during the life of the contract,
• Suppliers are not prohibited or impeded from releasing information,
• Explanations are provided for why information is redacted, and
• All central government contracts over £12,000 are published on Contracts Finder.

Some of the practices the PPN provides for will already be current practice for many authorities and suppliers, but this PPN clearly identifies the key responsibilities for both suppliers and authorities. Suppliers are required to implement the transparency principles, specifically by providing the government with the relevant information to respond to public enquiries within reasonable time frames and aiding the government to comply with their transparency obligations. Authorities should be the single point of contact for relevant enquiries, responsible for responding to requests for information. This responsibility includes deciding what information is relevant for the enquiry, communicating with suppliers to inform them of the request and to gain relevant information, cascading the enquires in a timely manner and releasing the information.

Key takeaways

Authorities and all suppliers for central government contracts should ensure they are familiar with this PPN, any relevant guidance and their individual responsibilities. Authorities and suppliers should engage in early discussions on the types of information which should be provided and what will be feasible for disclosure. Additionally, these discussions should be used to identify how audits will be completed throughout the contract term to help with the pricing of these activities.

We advise contracting authorities on all manner of issues relating to public procurement and our experts are on hand to guide authorities through the intricacies of running a procurement and responding to procurement challenges.

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This article is for general awareness only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. The law may have changed since this page was first published. If you would like further advice and assistance in relation to any issue raised in this article, please contact us by telephone or email enquiries@sharpepritchard.co.uk