2.4 The government's approach included reforming the regulations governing public sector contracts. These reforms are reflected in the Public Contract Regulations 2015, which became effective in February 2015 for public sector procurements. The new regulations include:
• removing pre-qualification questionnaires for contracts below a certain value and introducing a standardised questionnaire for higher-value contracts;
• requiring contracts to stipulate payment of invoices within 30 days throughout the supply chain;
• advertising all contracts above a certain value and publishing all award notices and framework call-offs; and
• introducing a 'comply or explain' requirement for commissioners to break contracts into different lots.
2.5 The CCS told us it was able to introduce some elements of these reforms early in central government, for example central government has used a core set of pre-qualification questions since 2011. It expects the legislation to ensure greater consistency across the wider public sector.