Procurement Act 2023 — what the first case means for automatic suspensions
We outline what's changed under the new test and consider what this may mean in practice for both contracting authorities and challengers.
The Procurement Act 2023 finally received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023.
This followed a slow journey through Parliament — which began in the final ever Queen’s Speech and an initial reading in the House of Lords in May 2022 — due to a significant number of proposed amendments.
Here, Partner and public procurement specialist Michael Winder provides a quick update on the Act and what comes next.
Going live in October 2024
Last week’s update from Transforming Public Procurement gave a clear commitment from the UK Government that the new procurement regime will go live as expected in October 2024.
This time next year, we will be entering the brave new world of the first fully domestic piece of procurement legislation since the UK exited from the European Union.
What happens next?
The Procurement Act depends on secondary legislation to fill in some of the gaps in the legislative framework. That secondary legislation was consulted in two parts over the summer. A new update from the Cabinet Office notes that the Government will be issuing a combined response on both parts of this consultation.
The aforementioned Transforming Public Procurement update stated that the UK Government is planning for the necessary secondary legislation to be laid early in 2024 — this will likely come into effect at the same time as the whole new regime goes live.
What are the implications of the new procurement regime?
Now that the text of the Act is locked in, we will be issuing various articles and seminars to explain the implications of the new regime.
Make sure to follow us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter) to find out as soon as these are available.
We strongly recommend that all contracting authorities begin to review their contract standing orders and internal processes to ensure compliance with the new Act and its linked legislation. Your people should also be upskilled to understand the differences and nuances in the new regime.
However, while there is a need to start preparing for the new regime, contracting authorities must not lose sight that until the law changes, the existing regime (as embodied in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and its Utilities and Concessions counterparts) remains in effect for all procurements — and adherence to the existing legislative framework is required.
Our procurement team can advise on any matter or query on either the existing or upcoming regimes.
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