Guidance

Procuring our services

Updated 24 February 2025

This note is for you and your organisation if you’re looking to understand the procurement rules for engaging the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD). It explains the rules that apply when a government or public body seeks GAD’s services. The guidance reflects the position at the time of publication and is tailored for UK entities.

This summary should not be relied on as a definitive description of the requirements. In each case, before engaging GAD, the contracting body may wish to seek advice from specialists in this field, having regard to their specific circumstances.

Legal requirements on public sector procurement

The Procurement Act 2023 (‘the Act’) came into force on 24 February 2025 and is now the key legislation for most public procurements in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. Scottish public authorities may be subject to the Act if some or all of their functions relate to matters reserved to the UK government. However, for devolved Scottish authorities, the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 applies.

The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 will continue to apply to procurements that began before this date. The Act is in many respects similar to the previous regime, but you should seek advice from your commercial or procurement team to identify the differences.   

Many factors affect whether the Act applies. Firstly, the body seeking to engage GAD must be a contracting authority which is defined in section 2 of the Act, which includes public authorities (and other bodies in the case of utilities contracts).

A public authority, as defined in the Act, is an organisation that is primarily funded by public money or overseen by a government body, and does not operate on a commercial basis. This includes central government authorities.

The Act does not apply where the procuring body is also a Crown Body. As GAD is a Crown Body, the procuring body and GAD are both part of the Crown, so the procurement rules won’t apply to that arrangement.

Some public authorities are excluded authorities under the Act (such as devolved Scottish authorities) and therefore are not subject to the same legal requirements. If you are unsure whether you are a contracting authority or an excluded authority, you should seek advice from your commercial or procurement team. The following guidance and decision-making process are applicable only to organisations or situations where the Act is relevant.

Not all contracts will necessarily fall within the substantive requirements of the Act. They will not apply if the contract has an estimated value that is below the relevant threshold amounts found in Schedule 1 of the Act. For central government authorities, the contract will be a public contract if it is estimated to fall above the main threshold amount of £138,760. It will be a below-threshold contract with more limited requirements if it has an estimated value of not less than £12,000.

You should check for any updates to these thresholds as well as the threshold that applies to your proposed contract. Estimated contract values should include VAT when being assessed against the thresholds.

Even where the Act does apply, there are exemptions in Schedule 2 which might be relevant.

There is an exemption from the Act for ‘vertical arrangements’ which can be relevant to situations where the contracting authority and supplier are sufficiently closely linked by way of controls and activities.

If the agreement is not exempt, this guidance summarises the key initial requirements you should be aware of. This note does not obviate the need to obtain your own advice.

The diagram below provides a visual summary of the decision-making process set out in this note.

Frameworks

If your organisation has a framework with GAD as a supplier, then you can follow that procedure. A framework does not generally give rise to a binding obligation on a supplier to supply, or on a contracting authority to buy. There is usually a competition among the suppliers on that framework before the award of a contract for specific services. In some circumstances a framework may allow the direct award of a contract.

Further guidance

The Cabinet Office regularly publishes updates and guidance on best practice for public sector procurement. They contain useful information to be aware of including on the thresholds referenced elsewhere.

All contracting authorities must also have regard to the National Procurement Policy Statement. There are some exceptions, for example if you are awarding a contract in accordance with a framework.

Welsh and Northern Irish public authorities may need to have regard to their own national procurement policy statements.

Requirements for contracts equal to or above the relevant Procurement Act 2023 threshold

The Act thresholds are:

• £138,760 for central government bodies
• £213,477 for sub-central government authorities

A sub-central government authority is any contracting authority that is not a central government authority or a private utility or public undertaking. This usually includes contracting authorities below the central government level such as regional or local government bodies.

Where the Act applies, as well as overarching procurement objectives a series of procedural requirements apply to contracts above the relevant thresholds. These are detailed requirements and should be considered with your internal specialists as appropriate. They include requirements for contracting authorities to publish certain notices (such as a tender notice pre-tender and a contract details notice post-award) on Find a Tender, the government’s central digital platform, and to follow a competitive tendering procedure other than in very limited circumstances. Notices must comply with the relevant requirements found in The Procurement Regulations 2024, which for tender notices will depend on the procedure being followed. There is a new flexibility to choose the details of the competitive tendering procedure. 

Contracts may not be deliberately broken down into smaller lots, so they fall below the threshold with the intention of avoiding the valuation requirements or of artificially narrowing competition (see section 4 of the Act). However, services may be broken down into separate service lots where awards to different suppliers are likely to take place, provided this is not done deliberately exclude any of the requirements of the Act.

Requirements for contracts below the relevant threshold

Where the procurement rules apply, contracts that fall below the prescribed thresholds are not subject to the full provisions of the Act. Instead, Part 6 of the Act provides a streamlined set of procedural requirements for contracts valued at:

• £12,000 or over for central government bodies
• £30,000 or over for sub-central government authorities

Contracts that fall within this financial threshold must also be listed on Find a Tender, the government’s central digital platform. Notices must comply with the lighter-touch regulation 24 of The Procurement Regulations 2024, and include the:

• contract subject-matter
• estimated value
• submission process
• criteria that will be used to determine the winning bid

The Act does not apply to contracts with an estimated value below the above below-threshold amounts, but the procuring body would still need to apply its own controls and rules.

Direct awards

In certain limited circumstances, it may be possible for a procuring body to make a direct award of a contract to GAD, without going through the competition stages set out in the Act. Such circumstances are outlined in Chapter 3 and Schedule 5 of the Act. These include where a competitive procedure has received nil or no suitable response; or where there is a single supplier, a need for a repeat supply, or a supply in extreme urgency. Again, you may need to obtain your own advice before determining whether any of these circumstances apply to your proposed award.