Overview of the Act from the Cabinet Office

The Procurement Act will improve the current procurement processes in the public sector. Offering both a simpler and more flexible approach to procuring goods, works and services.

The aim of the Procurement Act is to change the 4 sets of regulations used currently into one single regulation framework so we can:

Create a simpler and more flexible commercial system that best meets our country’s needs.
Remain compliant with international obligations.
Create more opportunities for small businesses and social enterprises to compete for contracts.
Embed transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle to scrutinise taxpayer’s money more thoroughly.

While the Act comes into effect in October 2024, many crucial details, particularly surrounding secondary legislation, and specific guidance are still under development.

What the Cabinet Office is saying to procurement leaders

The Cabinet Office will be rolling out learning and development programmes for procurement and commercial teams. This includes contract managers, finance teams, service commissioners, legal advisers, and reporting teams. The Cabinet Office is asking all organisations to treat the Procurement Act 2023 as an organisational change programme and therefore consider:

Future pipelines of work in the next 12 months that would benefit from new flexibilities.
Review commercial strategies including planning, governance assurance and resources to enable the implementation of the new regime.
Consider who will attend funded training and work on the operational roll out.
Share the aims of reform widely with senior stakeholders and change makers.
Help communicate the changes with suppliers and encourage the market to embrace the Act.

The Cabinet Office wants to see all buying teams have a named individual in their organisation to be responsible for co-ordinating and championing the change.

There is a drive that buyers should be conducting early engagement with suppliers as a matter of policy. The Cabinet Office sees the use of the new flexibilities in procurement as fundamental to procurement reform and that commercial teams need to invest time in learning and development in order to get the most out of the transformation.

What the Cabinet Office is saying to suppliers

The Cabinet Office sees the new Procurement Act as a benefit to suppliers of all sizes, particularly start-ups, scale ups and small businesses.

It will create a single central digital platform for suppliers to register and store their details, with the ability for these details to be used for multiple bids. Through this platform, suppliers will also be able to see all opportunities in one place.

Commercial frameworks will be more flexible, so prospective suppliers are not shut out for long periods of time. This is just one of the methods the Act will remove bureaucratic barriers and level the playing field for smaller businesses, so that they can compete for more contracts.

The Act is seen as important to driving innovation, deliver better outcomes and embed transparency through the commercial lifecycle.

Summer 2023

Consultation on secondary legislation required to implement the Procurement Bill.

Autumn 2023

Procurement Bill receives Royal Ascent and becomes the Procurement Act 2023

November 2023

Government ‘Knowledge Drops’ launched – on-demand video resources providing an overview of the changes in the act.

March 2024

Secondary legislation finalised and laid before parliament.

Government advanced course of ‘Deep Dives’ launched – comprises a 3-Day virtual course led by subject matter experts.

May 2024

Government launches Communities for Practice, to provide a system of collective critical inquiry and reflection into the regime changes.

October 2024

Procurement Act 2023 comes into force, potentially in successive stages.

What’s next?

Lay the regulations to be made under the Act.
Launch E-learning modules
Publish technical guidance
Introduce communities of practice
Publish the National Procurement Policy Statement
Central digital platform goes live
Commence the Procurement Act

Figure 1: the Procurement Act 2023 as the foundation of what is next