Procurement Blackballing - OGC Guidance

On 15 March 2010, the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) published guidance (http://tinyurl.com/y9ppcel) on the mandatory requirement for contracting authorities to exclude economic operators (suppliers, contracts and services providers) from public contracts where they have been convicted of certain offences. These include participation in criminal organisations, corruption, money laundering and fraud (the guidance gives a full list). Exclusion is no longer at the discretion of the contracting authority.

The Public Contracts Regulations 2006 and the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2006 both require procuring entities not to select an economic operator where they have actual knowledge that the economic operator has been convicted of a particular offence. The requirement also applies to convictions applicable to that economic operator's directors or any other persons with powers of representation, decision or control for that economic operator.