Transforming Public Procurement
Contracting authorities and suppliers will need to follow new legislation to undertake public procurement for any new projects from 24 February 2025.
Update
On the 12 September 2024, the Cabinet Office has announced that the Procurement Act 2023 will now commence on 24 February 2025, a delay of four months from the original go-live date of 28 October 2024 to allow time for a new National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) to be produced.
The Government wants to ensure that public procurement supports delivery of its missions. The NPPS which sets out the Government’s strategic policy priorities for public procurement is an essential element of the Procurement Act, and it is crucial that the new regime commences with a statutory NPPS aligned to the new Government’s priorities.
In order to achieve this, work will now begin on a new NPPS. This will create a mission-led procurement regime which builds on the transformative powers within the Act, and which meets the challenge of applying the full potential of public procurement to deliver value for money, economic growth and social value.
This work will be completed by February and therefore, Ministers have taken the decision to delay the commencement of the new regime until the new NPPS is in place. The NPPS laid by the previous administration, and which would have come into force with the Act, will be withdrawn.
We are incredibly appreciative of the work stakeholders have done to ensure their organisation’s readiness for the new regime. Whilst the delay does allow more time for stakeholders to familiarise themselves with the new regime, we also understand this may impact procurements scheduled to commence under the new Act. The Cabinet Office have put together some further information, below, which should answer many of the questions you are likely to have.
If you have more specific points or questions you wish to raise, please do contact us at: procurement.reform@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.
Overview
This will be an important piece of legislation that will change the way the public sector buys goods and services. As a contracting authority this will impact the way we do business with our suppliers, so if you commission services, goods or works, you will need to know about these changes and our plans to prepare for go-live.
The existing procurement regulations will continue to apply for contracts that are already in progress, and for procurement projects started under the current regime, however for all new procurement projects post October, it is important that you understand the change. During the next few months of preparation, we will start providing you with updates and let you know nearer the go-live date when you may need to take action.
The Cabinet Office, who are leading the Transforming Public Procurement programme, will also be providing regular updates, therefore if you haven’t done so, we encourage you to subscribe to their update bulletin and check in to the dedicated gov.uk page. There are also plenty of conferences and events where the team are explaining how things will be different under the new regime.
Helpdesk
For all your programme and policy questions relating to implementation of the Act please email our service desk at procurement.reform@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
The Transforming Public Procurement landing page contains a range of information about the programme including details of our Learning and Development package, guidance documents to help planning and preparation, and an outline of the benefits of the new regime for contracting authorities and suppliers.