Welsh Government updates WPPN 10/21 concerning blacklisting in the construction industry.
On 29 January 2024, the Welsh Government published an updated version of WPPN 10/21: Blacklisting in the construction industry: advice for the Welsh public sector, replacing the version that was first published in 2013 and last updated in May 2017. WPPN 10/21 is not legal advice or statutory guidance.
WPPN 10/21 cites UK government guidance that defines blacklisting as “the systematic compilation of information on individual trade unionists and their use by employers and recruiters to discriminate against those individuals because of their trade union membership or because of their involvement in trade union activity”. Blacklists are sometimes referred to as “prohibited lists”.
WPPN 10/21 lists actions that are required by Welsh public sector bodies in this context. It includes guidance, in particular, on:
• Lawfully excluding blacklisters from public procurements under regulation 57(8) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/102) (PCR 2015), and circumstances where this will be proportionate.
• The information that Welsh public sector bodies can request from economic operators under the PCR 2015.
• Terminating contracts with economic operators that have or are engaged in blacklisting.
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