Procurement Hub

Welcome to your Procurement Information Hub

Our dedicated Procurement Hub is designed to give you access to various online resources from our leading procurement experts to keep you updated on the transition to the new regime.

Whether you’re a contracting authority or a bidder frequently tendering for regulated contracts, our team of Procurement specialists are here to assist you through the transition. If our briefing notes do not fully answer your questions, please do get in touch.

Procurement Act Overview

The Procurement Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. Whilst some provisions have already been in force since 19 January 2024, most of the Procurement Act will come into effect for procurements started on or after 28 October 2024.

In practice, many of the good things that procurement teams and contracting authorities have been doing for many years will continue to be good practice. That said, there are important changes, various opportunities and a general need to make sure procurement documents are up to date, reflecting the new language and the new rules.

As a result, contracting authorities need to update their processes, procedures, and staff training to comply with the new rules with effect from that date.

Here are a few examples:

The Act applies to new procurements. It does not apply to procurements that are already under way. But what about call-offs from existing frameworks and dynamic purchasing systems? We explain here in more detail how this works.
There are now only two procedures. Authorities should not refer to competitive dialogue, dynamic purchasing or the restricted procedure.
There are new selection questions.
In most cases, authorities still need to hold a standstill period. The length of that period is slightly different. In practice authorities need to think carefully about what information they give to bidders.
The remedies available to bidders who challenge procurement outcomes are the same in practice (though the terminology is Anglicised). However, the stakes may unintentionally now be higher due to the new rules about the automatic suspension.
Procurers usually hand responsibility for contract management to the relevant internal department. The contract delivery phase is now more heavily regulated and it is important for procurement teams and relevant commissioning departments to work together to ensure this runs smoothly.

What’s the latest?

12 September 2024

Breaking news. The government has just announced a “short delay” to the commencement of the Procurement Act 2023. The main provisions of the Act are now expected to go live on 24 February 2025.

2 August 2024

Cabinet Office published more Procurement Act guidance – including its guidance on:

25 July 2024

Welsh Government has published its latest tranche of guidance on the Procurement Act. This includes guidance on technical specifications, modifying a competitive procurement and time periods.

11 July 2024

The Welsh Government has just published the first tranche of guidance on the Procurement Act, consisting of 8 guidance notes. Perhaps the most important at this stage is the guidance on transitional arrangements – this sets out when the new Act applies and which procurements will be regulated by the existing Regulations.

3 July 2024

The Procurement (Wales) Regulations 2024 have been approved by Senedd Cymru. These supplement the Procurement Act 2023 and include important detail such as the information that must be included in the many different transparency notices under the Act. These Regulations come hot on the heels of the English equivalent that were made on 22 May.

24 May 2024

Cabinet Office has started to publish guidance on the Procurement Act 2023. This guidance applies to England. It only applies to Wales where the procurement does not entirely relate to a reserved matter (we expect the Welsh Government to publish its own guidance for reserved matters procurement in due course).

22 May 2024

Confirmed: the Procurement Act 2023 will come into force on 28 October 2024.

Key Dates

Commencement Details

Effective Date: Most provisions will take effect on 28 October 2024. New rules apply to all procurements commenced after this date.
Current Provisions: From 23 May 2024 Scottish Ministers can manage devolved Scottish procurement legislation under Sections 115(2), (3), and (4).
Delayed Provisions: Transparency-related obligations, such as the publication of payment compliance notices and contract performance information, are not yet scheduled for enforcement.

Transitional Provisions

Existing Regime Continuation: Procurements or contracts “commenced” or awarded before 28 October 2024 will remain under the old Regulations.
Validity Limits: Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) procured under the old regulations will have validity limits. If they do not terminate before then, they will automatically expire on 27 October 2028. Interestingly, there are no such automatic expiry provisions for framework.