The Procurement Act 2023 (going live on 24 February 2025) marks a major shift for suppliers navigating UK procurement, with reforms focused on enhancing transparency, commerciality, and fairness in public contracts. All of this will benefit suppliers, especially those savvy enough to take advantage of it from day one.
Transparency: Key notices under this Act include:
- Pipeline Notice: All authorities spending £100 million or more on public contracts must disclose major procurement plans over the next 18 months, providing foresight into future opportunities.
- Pre-market Engagement Notice: Authorities must produce this notice before a tender, detailing any pre-market engagement undertaken or explaining why they haven’t done any. This will help suppliers responding reactively to tenders or missing early engagement to still compete effectively.
- Procurement Termination Notice: Authorities starting but later abandoning a procurement must publicly disclose their reasons. This transparency helps us identify the authorities who do this regularly – we all know who they are!
- Payments Compliance Notice: This notice reveals how many days, on average, an authority takes to pay invoices and what percentage are paid within 30 days. Won’t it be nice to profile potential customers based on this?
- Contract Performance Notice: For contracts valued above £5 million, this notice details performance against contractual KPIs, providing valuable insights into competitors and the success of large projects.
Commerciality: The Act also aims to simplify procurement processes and eliminate repetitive steps, such as completing the same SQ (Selection Questionnaire) multiple times. Instead, suppliers will use a centralised electronic SQ, accessible through the new digital platform. Additionally, the introduction of Dynamic Markets, Open Frameworks, and the Competitive Flexible Procedure will remove repetitive parts of the tendering process and make procurements faster end-to-end. While faster processes might not always yield the best outcomes, the reduction in paperwork and time spent can make engaging with public sector tenders more attractive, especially for SMEs/VCSEs.
Fairness: The Act will establish the Procurement Review Unit (PRU). Acting as a semi-independent regulatory body, the PRU oversees compliance with procurement laws, offers guidance, and manages the supplier debarment process. For suppliers, the PRU provides a centralised accountability point and a mechanism for addressing concerns, promoting fair treatment. For authorities, it enforces a more rigorous approach to managing unsuitable or poorly performing suppliers. I think this oversight may encourage closer collaboration between suppliers and buyers to avoid scrutiny and deal with issues in-house rather than airing it in public.
Bring on 24th February—and here’s hoping for no further delays!
Gemma Waring
Gemma has been a dynamic force in tendering and procurement for 20 years. Her commitment to excellence, determination to succeed and passion for empowering others has resulted in exceptional career achievements. She is a key player in the roll out of the Procurement Act 2023 and was a recent Runner Up in the APMP UK's annual awards in the Supplier of the Year category.
