GovWire

Current system status: Live

The statutory requirements for contract and supplier reporting are introduced by the Defence Reform Act 2014 (the Act) and defined in the Single Source Contract Regulations 2014 (the Regulations). The Defence Contract Analysis and Reporting System (DefCARS, the system) is an on-line, web-enabled system which facilitates submission of statutory reports to the SSRO and MOD.

When preparing reports, contractors must have regard to guidance issued by the SSRO. The SSRO has published three guidance documents: which can be accessed at the links below:

• reporting guidance on contract reports: DefCARS - contract report guidance - Version 11 published on 28 July 2022 (PDF, 1.1 MB, 140 pages)
• reporting guidance on supplier reports: DefCARS - supplier report guidance - Version 9 published on 28 July 2022 (PDF, 719 KB, 51 pages)
• reporting guidance on DefCARS functionality: Guidance on DefCARS functionality - Version 11 published on 28 July 2022 (PDF, 611 KB, 26 pages)

The 28 July 2022 release is an update following consultation with stakeholders earlier in the year and the following changes have been made to the contract reporting guidance:

• new guidance on aggregation principles when valuing sub-contracts;
• new guidance on the reporting of the price of framework contracts;
• amended guidance on the reporting of a company registration number; and
• new guidance on how the Regulation 5 value assessment determines the frequency of Interim Contract Reports.

The new guidance on aggregation principles references notification templates which contractors can use once a QSC assessment has been undertaken. These templates are available on the SSRO Support page of the SSRO website.

The supplier report guidance has been updated to include new guidance on general reporting requirements for these types of report.

The following changes have been made to the guidance on DefCARS functionality:

• details of user permissions for the system have been updated;
• new guidance on how to search for contract details; and
• new guidance on the closure of compliance issues in reports.

The guidance is integrated within DefCARS so that users can easily access the relevant information they need. The SSRO reviews the guidance on a regular basis and discusses the priorities for improvement with stakeholders.

DefCARS includes validation checks to help contractors comply with the reporting requirements and reduces the amount of data entry required by eliminating duplication. The SSRO has published a list of all the validation checks which are currently applied within the system and these were last updated on 26 January 2022 DefCARS validation checks published 26 January 2022 (PDF, 403 KB, 10 pages).

Copy and paste functionality is currently available in many parts of DefCARS. To allow contractors with Qualifying Business Units (QBU) to understand their reporting requirements and prepare their QBU Cost Analysis Reports, a copy and paste template is provided: QBUCAR template (XLSM, 76.5 KB).

Contractors or MOD staff who do not currently have access to DefCARS but wish to understand the Defined Pricing Structure (DPS) cost breakdowns, may access the DPS templates that preceded DefCARS. These previous templates are substantially the same as the current versions within DefCARS.

Contractors may also require access to previous reporting templates and user guides.

If you have any questions about how to access DefCARS or the guidance please contact the SSRO at helpdesk@ssro.gov.uk.