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21 February 2025
Issue: 8105 / Categories: Legal News , Procurement , Public , Governance
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NLJ this week: A clean sheet on public procurement

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The Procurement Act 2023, which comes into force on 24 February 2025, ushers in a new regime for the awarding of public contracts. In this week’s NLJ, Paul Henty, partner at Beale & Co, a specialist in public procurement law, looks at the Act’s provisions on debarment and exclusion.

As Henty notes, the Act ‘heralds a new era of accountability and integrity’. It expands and strengthens the ability to exclude bidders, for example, they can be excluded because of the actions of parent and subsidiary companies or for the acts of ‘connected persons’.

Henty looks at the grounds, requirements and definitions involved. He writes: ‘Self-cleaning plays a critical role in determining whether discretionary exclusion grounds remain applicable. Suppliers can demonstrate their commitment to addressing past deficiencies.’ 

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Carey Olsen—Patrick Ormond

Partner joinscorporate and finance practice in British Virgin Islands

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Dawson Cornwell—Naomi Angell

Firm strengthens children department with adoption and surrogacy expert

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Penningtons Manches Cooper—Graham Green

Media and technology expert joins employment team as partner in Cambridge

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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