The Crown Commercial Service has replaced Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 3/23 with a new PPN and new Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ). The new PPN 3/24 can be found here.

The main change is that permission to use PAS 91 for works contracts is now withdrawn. Contracting authorities will now need to use the Common Assessment Standard produced by Build UK instead.

The new SQ now appears in two different formats. There is a series of questions that can be uploaded to an e-procurement portal. There is also a template SQ for any contracting authority that does not use one of the standard procurement portals. 

The changes to the SQ are minor, especially for contracting authorities that are not part of central government. There are updated questions on payment practices, steel-related questions (both of which are reserved for central government – see below) and guidance on bidders with links to Russian/Belarusian companies.

In addition to outlawing the use of PAS 91, there is a potentially significant change to the guidance in relation to economic and financial standing. The statement that a minimum turnover requirement or a credit reference check should not be used as the sole reason for excluding a bidder on financial grounds no longer appears in the guidance. This means that a contracting authority may choose to disqualify a bidder that does not meet their minimum turnover threshold, as long as this is ‘proportionate’. 

In relation to the use of credit reference agencies, there is still concern over the transparency of the methods that they use to assess the financial viability of bidders. A contracting authority should therefore be cautious about using a credit reference agency check as the sole reason to exclude a bidder. 

As with the previous SQ/PPN, certain questions are mandated for central government only. These include questions on bidders, payment processes, carbon reduction plans in high-value contracts, tackling modern slavery, and supporting apprenticeships and skills. 

As with the PPNs on these subjects, there is no explanation as to why these are of concern only to central government. Many contracting authorities will want to ask these questions as part of their template selection questionnaires for higher-value procurements. However, if they do so, this should be reported as a deviation from the guidance in accordance with the PPN (by letter to the Cabinet Office).

Contracting authorities are given three months to implement the new selection questionnaire. This means that the CAS, rather than PAS 91, for works contracts and the new SQ or SQ questions on the e-procurement portal need to be used for procurements from 27 June 2024 onwards.