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Public procurement: A new consultation for growing skills and jobs in British industry

AuthorsMichael Winder

6 min read

Procurement

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The Procurement Act 2023 came into effect on 25th February 2025. Contracting authorities and suppliers are still learning how to interact with the new Act, which was in itself arguably the biggest change to public procurement law in the UK in a generation. Therefore, there was a slight degree of surprise when last month (June 2025) the UK government published a new consultation that will introduce further wide-ranging changes to public procurement law. 

In this article, Michael Winder, partner in our public procurement team, reviews the consultation paper.

The consultation is stated to build on the changes introduced by the Procurement Act 2023 to ensure that public procurement plays a full role in improving domestic competitiveness, improving the UK’s economic resilience and strengthening supply chains and supporting British businesses. It is also intended to open up more opportunities for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) —  which the Government considers vital to driving the UK economy forward. This is part of the current Government’s manifesto commitment to use public procurement law to support their Plan for Change.

The proposals under consultation fall into several key areas, including supporting:

Supporting small businesses and social enterprises

The proposals here include:

Supporting national capability

There are two proposals here:

Supporting good quality local jobs and skills

There are several proposals here:

What does this mean for public procurement?

Many of the proposals are a logical step forward from the existing provisions within the Act, while some of them are significant changes. It is clear that if the changes proposed are implemented as suggested in the consultation, they would require changes to both primary legislation i.e. the Procurement Act itself, and secondary legislation, e.g. changes to the Public Regulations 2024 or new secondary legislation. While the consultation is at the very early stages of the process in changing the law, this does mean that new fundamental changes are on the horizon for public procurement law. This would also undermine the original ethos of the Procurement Act which was to consolidate procurement legislation into one overall Act that was much easier to follow. It would also undermine some of the flexibility given to contracting authorities, which was again another guiding principle of the original Procurement Act.

Some of the changes would be welcome — indeed, many would argue that public procurement law can be bureaucratic and work against some of the needs of public authorities, and that economic resilience is paramount in these uncertain times. Furthermore, moving away from box ticking exercises for social value can only be of benefit, while a genuine joined up consideration of whether insourcing is appropriate is an interesting sea change from the general presumption towards outsourcing that has been prevalent since the 1980s (how budget-strapped councils manage insourcing and associated TUPE costs remains to be seen). 

As with all consultations we may see the proposals changing as the Government takes onboard feedback from stakeholders. The consultation is available here. The closing date for consultation is 5th September 2025. 

Talk to us

If you need guidance — or have any questions about the Procurement Act 2023, this proposed consultation or wider issues around public procurement or subsidy control — our expert Public Procurement Team is here to help.

Give us a call on 0333 004 4488, email us at hello@brabners.com or complete our contact form below.

Michael Winder

Michael is a Partner in our commercial team. He leads our public procurement team.

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Michael Winder

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