Procurement Policy Note PPN 03/20 on Use of Procurement Cards

The Cabinet Office has published Procurement Policy Note PPN 03/20 on Use of Procurement Cards - COVID-19

PPN 03/20 applies to all Central Government Departments, their Executive Agencies and Non Departmental Public Bodies (in scope organisations).

All in scope organisation are required to engage urgently with their procurement card provider to:

• Increase the single transaction limit for £20,000 for key card holders; and
• Raise the monthly limit on spending with procurement cards to £100,000 for key card holders. It also confirms that monthly spend on procurement cards in excess of £100,000 should be permissible to meet business need.

By 30 April 2020, in scope organisations should:

• Ensure that appropriate number of staff have the authority to use these cards
• Upon all relevant categories of spend to enable the cards to be used more widely.

The PPN also confirms that in scope organisations not currently using procurement cards should immediately put in place arrangements using the relevant Crown Commercial Service agreement.

The PPN includes information and advice on maintaining controls to minimise risk of inappropriate use of procurement cards and responses to seven FAQs.

For further support and advice relating to the impact of COVID-19, please view our COVID-19 Advisory Service page.