The Scottish Ministers have made the Cross‑Border Public Procurement (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2025, setting out how devolved procurement rules operate for cross‑border awards. The instrument was made on 3 December 2025 and comes into force on 20 December 2025, as recorded on legislation.gov.uk (SSI 2025/392).
Using powers in section 115(3) of the Procurement Act 2023, and with the draft approved by resolution of the Scottish Parliament under section 122(14), the Regulations clarify when Scottish provisions apply to procurements undertaken under cross‑border arrangements and when they are disapplied to avoid duplicate regulation across UK regimes.
In the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, a new regulation 3A confirms that where a UK contracting authority conducts a procurement under a devolved Scottish procurement arrangement and the award follows a joint procedure with one or more contracting authorities, or is run by a central purchasing body that is a contracting authority, the Scottish provisions apply without modification. For these purposes, ‘UK contracting authority’ and ‘devolved Scottish procurement arrangement’ take their meanings from sections 2(1) and 114(4) of the Procurement Act 2023 respectively.
Where a UK contracting authority makes an award under a framework agreement or by reference to a dynamic purchasing system within a devolved Scottish procurement arrangement, only specified provisions of the 2015 Regulations apply. The instrument inserts a new schedule 7 listing the applicable provisions and any modifications, and a schedule 8 identifying provisions that do not apply where procurement is carried out under reserved, devolved Welsh or transferred Northern Ireland arrangements defined by the 2023 Act.
Parallel amendments are made to the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016. A new regulation 3A mirrors the approach for utilities, including awards under a framework agreement or via a dynamic market system, with the applicable provisions set out in a new schedule 4 and modifications specified where necessary. A new regulation 3B is also inserted, with schedule 5 listing the provisions that do not apply when procurement is undertaken under the reserved, devolved Welsh or transferred Northern Ireland arrangements referenced in section 114 of the 2023 Act.
The utilities schedules include targeted adjustments to fit cross‑border practice. For example, the schedule modifies regulation 17 on contracts awarded for resale or lease to third parties so that paragraphs (1), (2) and (6) do not apply, and paragraph (5) is read as if references to ‘buyer profile’ were omitted. This illustrates the calibrated approach to process and publication duties in cross‑border awards.
The Concession Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016 are amended to insert a new regulation 7A. Where a UK contracting authority carries out procurement under a devolved Scottish procurement arrangement and the award follows a joint procedure or is run by a central purchasing body that is a contracting authority, the Scottish concession rules apply without modification. Definitions follow the Procurement Act 2023.
The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 is updated to manage overlap with the UK‑wide regime. A new section 3A provides that, where a contracting authority conducts procurement under a reserved procurement arrangement, a devolved Welsh procurement arrangement or a transferred Northern Ireland procurement arrangement, provisions of the 2014 Act listed in a new schedule 2 do not apply to that procurement. The existing schedule is renumbered as schedule 1 to accommodate this change.
Section 41 of the 2014 Act, which addresses the relationship between the public contracts regulations and higher‑value regulated procurements, is amended so that subsection (1)(c) now also references section 115A of the Procurement Act 2023. This keeps statutory cross‑references aligned with the new UK framework.
The instrument is signed by Ivan McKee on behalf of the Scottish Ministers at St Andrew’s House on 3 December 2025. The accompanying note explains that the Regulations apply devolved Scottish procurement legislation to UK contracting authorities regulated by the Procurement Act 2023 in defined circumstances, and disapply devolved provisions where the 2023 Act regulates cross‑border procurement by a devolved Scottish authority.
For contracting authorities and central purchasing bodies, the immediate operational task is to identify the legal basis for each cross‑border procurement and confirm whether the award route is a joint procedure, a framework call‑off or an award via a dynamic purchasing or dynamic market system. From 20 December 2025, documentation and notices should reflect the schedules that specify which Scottish provisions apply and any modifications.
Suppliers involved in UK‑Scotland competitions should expect tender documentation to reference both the Procurement Act 2023 and the relevant Scottish instruments, with clauses reflecting schedule‑level adjustments. Publication, information and process requirements may differ from familiar domestic procedures in limited areas, particularly in utilities where references to ‘buyer profile’ are expressly adjusted for certain awards.