After some delay, the Procurement Act 2023 launches on the morning of Monday, 24th February 2025, alongside the new National Procurement Policy Statement which was approved by Parliament on 13th February 2025.
Government objectives for the Procurement Act 2023
The Procurement Act 2023 is designed to make it easier for suppliers of all sizes to bid for opportunities and work with public sector organisations. The changes apply to supplies made to government departments, the NHS, local authorities, universities, schools, social housing organisations, police and fire brigades and utility companies. In excess of 1,000 public sector buying organisations have registered so far.
The National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) sets out strategic priorities for public procurement and how contracting authorities can support their delivery. Unless exempted e.g. under devolved arrangements, all public sector contracting authorities must have regard to this statement as well as the Procurement Act 2023. By supporting SMEs the Government intends to achieve several goals including kickstart economic growth by creating more opportunities for small businesses and social enterprises across the UK, and helping to create high quality jobs and encourage innovation, the latter also helping to support the NHS by providing good jobs and opportunities.
Key benefits for suppliers include more standardisation and streamlined procurement processes, as well as more robust governance in terms of procurement decisions, transparency and payment terms.
More flexible procurement
The Procurement Act 2023 will bring more flexibility to buying processes for the public sector including:
- Value for money to be at the core of public sector procurements over the life cycle of each contract, with wider socio-economic and environmental benefits and impacts also assessed
- The introduction of a new ‘competitive flexible’ procedure
- Commercial procurement frameworks will be more open, allowing suppliers to join at set points during the life of the framework
- Public sector buying organisations will be required to provide consistent feedback to suppliers (e.g. bid assessments for final tenders)
- Enhancements to the Find a Tender service in the form of the new Central Digital Platform, which suppliers will use to make it simpler to find and bid for opportunities (e.g. suppliers can set up relevant opportunity alerts, plus also store their core and business details for use on multiple bids)
- The new Procurement Review Unit (PRU) which will build upon the existing Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) where suppliers can address concerns (e.g. regarding bids, late payment etc.)
- Encourage collaborative working within public sector organisations and partnerships across the public sector and private sector organisations
- Government training support for the public sector on the new flexibilities and commercial contract management skills to support optimised outcomes overall
- Benchmark their organisational capability against others
This will enable:
- Easier access by suppliers to a larger playing field for public sector procurements
- For suppliers, better visibility of current and upcoming opportunities, simpler bidding processes, more transparency
- For public sector buyers, more competition giving them more candidates to select from
- Rewards for competitive suppliers
- Better value for the public sector with wider socio-economic and positive environmental benefits and impacts
Further details are available from:
- Procurement policy notes: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/procurement-policy-notes
- Transforming Public Procurement: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/transforming-public-procurement
- Procurement Act 2023 guidance documents: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-act-2023-guidance-documents-manage-phase
