Public Procurement During Emergencies: Expert Report for the UK Covid-19 Public

The report ‘Public procurement in emergencies‘ covers the key principles, legal frameworks and relevant guidance with respect to public procurement by the UK government and devolved administrations and how this may be improved in the future. While some core parts of the report focus on specific issues that arose in the UK’s procurement response to the pandemic—such as the creation of the ‘VIP Lane’ for offers referred by politically-exposed persons or the ‘Ventilator Challenge’ that sought to develop new ventilator prototypes as part of the emergency response—other parts focus on principles of procurement regulation, as well as compared international experiences of emergency procurement during the pandemic. The report will thus be of interest beyond the UK.