Procurement Act 2023 delayed until early 2025

The Cabinet Office has confirmed that the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) has been delayed by four months and will now commence on 24 February 2025. 

The Act was originally intended to come into force on 28 October 2024, with guidance being issued regularly throughout this year in the lead up to next month.

In the last week or so, rumours have been increasingly swirling that the October date may not be met, accompanied by speculation that implementation problems with the changes to the ‘Find a Tender’ portal were the cause of any proposed delay.

Improvements required to National Procurement Policy Statement

A written statement made by the Cabinet Office on 12 September 2024 has now confirmed that the current Government wishes to delay the implementation until early next year. The reason given in the written statement is that the new Government doesn’t consider the current National Procurement Policy Statement issued by the previous Government on 13 May 2024 is sufficient to “meet the challenge of applying the full potential of public procurement to deliver value for money, economic growth and social value”. 

The Government is seeking to produce a new National Procurement Policy Statement which is more aligned to the current Government’s priorities for public procurement.

How does this impact contracting authorities?

In some respects, this is good news for contracting authorities. It provides further time for any issues with Find a Tender to be ironed out and for the Cabinet Office to issue the final pieces of guidance. More importantly, it’ll give contracting authorities more time to get ready for the transition to the new Act. 

Given the fundamental change in approach to transparency baked into the new Act, there are significant behind-the-scenes changes that contracting authorities must get to grips with. 

We know that many contracting authorities wouldn’t have been entirely ready for implementation at the end of October and should therefore embrace the four-month delay wholeheartedly while continuing their preparations for the Act.

Four steps for contracting authorities to prepare for the Procurement Act 2023

1. Become familiar with the new Act, its supporting regulations and the guidance issued by the Cabinet Office.
2. Review all contract procedure rules, internal processes and policies and update them to ensure that you’re ready to comply with the transparency and procedural requirements on day one of the new Act — not least the new conflicts assessment and the various notices to be issued.
3. Update all documents to reflect the new Act (such as ITTs and contract templates).
4. Undertake the necessary exercises to collate and maintain a clear record of all upcoming procurement activity and all contracts.

Furthermore, contracting authorities should consider their plans for procurements that are due to commence in the period between the end of October and late February. If plans have been in place to procure in accordance with the new Act, these procurements will need to be altered to reflect the current regime.

Talk to us

While the latest delay may cause some confusion, overall we consider that it’s for the benefit of all public procurement practitioners. Contracting authorities should take this opportunity with both hands to ensure that everyone is ready and fully compliant with the Act by the end of February.

Our experienced procurement law team is more than happy to assist with any queries regarding the Act and the delay to its implementation.

Talk to us by completing the contact form below.