Our latest materials on the Procurement Act 2023
5 in 25 Countdown series
From September 2023 we are running our popular 5 in 25 series with a focus on the Procurement Act. Through to Autumn 2024, please join us in looking at the impact of the Act on the journey through the arc of the procurement process and the operation of a public contract, from pre-procurement considerations, through choice of procedure and advertisement/transparency, to selection, evaluation, award, challenges, and operating (and reporting on) the contract. Click here to sign up to be notified. Don't worry if you have missed any webinars, you can find them all, together with our responses to questions raised during each webinar, here.
Procurement Act Vlog
Shailee Howard, Claire Crawford, Victoria Armitage and Jenny Beresford-Jones discuss the key changes set out in the Act and offer practical tips for authorities and suppliers.
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Detailed briefing on the Procurement Act 2023
Our detailed briefing looks at the whole Act chapter by chapter, noting key changes and departures from the Public Contracts Regulations 2015
Procurement Phrasebook
Our procurement phrasebook will guide you through the new terminology in the Act.
The Light Touch Regime under the Procurement Act 2023
Our handy guide to how the new Act will apply to "light touch" services.
Transparency under the Procurement Act 2023
The requirement to publish a much greater range of transparency notices is one of the key changes under the Act. Our briefing lists out all the notices required under the Act and indicates whether or not these are mandatory.
Timeline to Implementation
Latest news
12 September 2024
The implementation date for the Act is now 24th February 2025. See our blog post here.
Older news
24 May 2024 - Go Live date confirmed as 28 October 2024, Procurement Regulations 2024 now finalized, further transitional guidance published
The government has confirmed that, despite the announcement of the general election, the “go live” date for the Procurement Act 2023 remains 28 October 2024. The necessary secondary legislation, the Procurement Regulations 2024 and The Procurement Act 2023 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2024 are now in final form.
The government's Official Guidance page has been updated, and details of all guidance expected to be provided by the end of June 2024 has been listed, in four separate phases known as Plan, Define, Procure and Manage.
12th April - second tranche of official guidance published
The government has published the second tranche of official guidance on the Procurement Act 2023, covering
- The National Procurement Policy statement
- Technical Specifications
- Pipeline Notices
- Planned Procurement Notices
- Preliminary Market Engagement Notices
Click here to read our blog post drawing out the key points to note.
22nd March and 24th March - Consultation Response, Procurement Regulations 2024 and first set of official guidance published
The government has published its Response to the consultations and has reiterated its commitment to an October 2024 go live date for the Procurement Act 2023. The response does not contain any major changes to the original approach but is worth a read for some interesting nuances; the key points are summarized in our blog post here.
The Procurement Regulations 2024 have also been published, combining the two sets of regulations consulted on in summer 2023 into one, with some changes and updates. See our blog post here for more details.
We have also had sight of the first tranche of official guidance on the Procurement Act 2023 – covering:
- Contracting authority definition
- Covered procurement definition
- Valuation of contracts
- Mixed procurement
- Exempted contracts
- Thresholds
Guidance on transitional provisions is also expected shortly. The guidance notes published so far mainly confirm that little has changed in that topic area from the current position. However we expect that future guidance on, for example, frameworks. dynamic markets, modifications to contracts, monitoring contract performance and so on, will shine a useful light on areas of the Act where there are question marks around how the new regime will work in practice.
Knowledge Drops
The government has announced the first official training products to support the introduction of the new Procurement Act. These are "knowledge drops" and there are three separate modules available, aimed at different audiences:
- Contracting authorities: 45 minutes in total, broken down into 6 smaller sections.
- Suppliers: 45 minutes in total, broken down into 3 smaller sections.
- VCSE and SME suppliers: 45 minutes in total, broken down into 3 smaller section
Additionally there are fact sheets to explain the new rules in relation to Wales, Northern Ireland, utilities, light touch, defence and security, concessions and schools.
Click here to view the Knowledge Drops.
Short Guides
The government has also published some "Short Guides" aimed at suppliers and senior leaders, together with a series of high level videos aimed at practitioners, authorities and suppliers. You can find these here.
Procurement Act 2023
The Procurement Bill received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 and is now the Procurement Act 2023. The Cabinet Office has suggested a go-live date of October 2024 (with a six months notice period ahead of that date). As with the introduction of the PCR 2015, implementation may be in successive phases. You can read the Act here.
Details of the likely approach to transition has been made public - see our blog post here on this and on the possible impact of the general election on central government procurement in the pre-election period.
The government has now consulted on the secondary legislation that implements many of the concepts and principles set out at a high level in the Procurement Bill. The first consultation covered areas of the Bill which require lists, calculations or further definitions to be used in practice. These include, for example, the scope of the dis-application of the new Act to NHS Procurements, the appropriate scope of the Light Touch regime, and methods of calculating the "activity" tests for the "in-house" and "joint collaboration" exemptions. The second consultation covered the detail of the notices etc that authorities will publish the new Act.
Provider Selection Regime
From 1 January 2024, the Provider Selection Regime comes into force for the procurement of NHS healthcare services; the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 will no longer apply in relation to these services from 1 January 2024. Click here to read our guidance note on the scope and detail of the PSR. You could also take a look at our webinar on the PSR.
Other useful resources
- Mills & Reeve briefing paper on government response to consultation on procurement law reform. Click here to read our briefing paper which is a handy guide to all the changes we can expect to see in the new legislation.
- Mills & Reeve webinar on the response to the consultation. Click here to view our recorded webinar which draws out the key changes on the way.
- Government paper "Getting Ready For The New Procurement Act" detailing its learning and development offer to authorities in relation to the Procurement Act.
- Government resources page on transforming public procurement. You can click here to see the latest offer on learning and development in relation to the Act.
Keep up to date with reform
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