Procurement in a Nutshell – Cross-Border Public Procurement (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025
31st October, 2025
The Scottish Government have recently published a draft of the Cross-Border Public Procurement (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025.
These regulations are set to come into fruition on the 20th December 2025 and they amend the Scottish public procurement rules to now take into account the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023).
Devolved Scottish authorities (functions relating exclusively to Scotland) are generally excluded from the PA 2023 and they continue to be governed by Scottish procurement regulations, such as the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 (PCSRs 2015). However, section 115A PA 2023 states if a devolved Scottish authority enters into a procurement arrangement with a UK contracting authority, the PA 2023 will apply to that specific procurement process.
What do the Cross-Border regulations do?
The Cross-Border regulations amend the PCSRs 2015 to make clear that:
- Where a UK contracting authority carries out a procurement under a Scottish procurement framework, the PCSRs 2015 will apply to that purchase.
- Where a devolved Scottish authority carries out a procurement under a English, Welsh or Northern Irish procurement, the PCSRs (and the Welsh & Northern Irish equivalent) will generally not apply and instead, the PA 2023 will prevail.
What needs further clarification
The Cross-Border regulations cannot disapply the PA 2023 where a UK contracting authority procure using Scottish procurement arrangements. This power is exclusively reserved to the UK Government under section 115(2) PA 2023.
Due to this, Scottish authorities when using a UK framework go from being subject to two overlapping regimes to one and UK contracting authorities buying from Scottish frameworks go from being subject to one regime, now to two.
Conclusion
It is suggested that the UK Government amend the PA 2023 to disapply it to cases where UK contracting authorities buy from devolved Scottish procurement arrangements; however, this has not been allocated to the Parliamentary timetable as of just yet.
For further information please contact Melanie Pears or Tim Care in our Public Sector team.
Seminar: Procurement and Public Law Update
Join us for our in person Procurement and Public Law Update on Thursday 20th November between 9.30am – 12.30pm.
The challenge everyone in the public sector is facing is bedding in the new procurement rules with their increased transparency requirements.
This seminar will look at what those changes have meant in practice since both the new Act and the new NHS regime came into force and will give practical tips on how to manage procurements now.
In our Procurement and Public Law Update we will be covering a range of topics such as:
- Highlights from the transition to the Procurement Act 2023 and the NHS Procurement Selection Regime
- Latest case law
- The Transparency agenda
- Avoiding or defending a challenge
- Update on Subsidy Control
- Update on Local government reorganisation
Register for the seminar here.
Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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