Defence Online

Single Source Contract Regulations (SSCRs)

August 4, 2016

Following the passing of the Defence Reform Act (2014) the MOD introduced new, statutory controls on single source contracts to address a long-term weakness in the previous framework (the Yellow Book).

The new regime – Single Source Contract Regulations (SSCRs) – has three key features:

(a) Clear rules on how contracts can be priced.

(b) Greater transparency, including a suite of mandatory reports, and an obligation on suppliers to demonstrate that costs to the MOD are ‘Appropriate, Attributable to the contract and Reasonable’ or AAR for short.

(c) The creation of a new arm’s-length body, the Single Source Regulations Office (SSRO), to issue guidance on application of the regulations and arbitrate between the MOD and suppliers. If asked to by either party, the SSRO can make legally binding decisions on contract price.

The new framework came fully into force in April 2015 and applies to single source contracts placed on behalf of the Secretary of State for Defence which are £5M or above and sub-contracts to a qualifying contract which are £25M or above. There are also some categories of contracts that are excluded regardless of whether they meet the above criteria, eg contracts made wholly for the purpose of intelligence activities. There have up until the end of July 2016 been over 40 qualifying contracts reported and four qualifying sub-contracts with a total value of over £4.5Bn.

Within the MOD, the Single Source Advisory Team (SSAT) has been created to act as a point of contact for project teams to deal with compliance issues arising from the regime and act as MOD’s first point of contact with SSRO. If you would like to contact the SSAT, please email the team at DESComrcl-SSAT-1@mod.uk.

If you are interested in training available specific to the single source framework, you can find relevant courses by searching ‘single source procurement’ on the Defence Academy website. There is also guidance on the legislative framework for use by commercial staff which you can find on the Commercial Toolkit at: http://aof.uwh.diif.r.mil.uk/aofcontent/tactical/toolkit/content/topics/sspr.htm.

Finally, to access the statutory guidance published by the SSRO and reporting templates, visit the SSRO website at: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/single-source-regulations-office.

If you would like to read more articles like this then please click here

MOD SSAT SSCR SSRO UK

Post written by: Vicky Maggiani

Vicky has worked in media for over 25 years and has a wealth of experience in editing and creating copy for a variety of sectors.