12 Sep 2024

Procurement Act Implementation Delayed until February 2025

The Procurement Act 2023 will now commence on 24 February 2025.

Today (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 to 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.

Cabinet Office intends for this work to 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 The NPPS laid by the previous administration, and which would have come into force with the Act, will be withdrawn.

Cabinet Office have put together some FAQs 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 [email protected].

This change does not affect the availability or content of any of the official L&D materials, which will continue to be available up to and after the new commencement date. Similarly, techUK’s Procurement Week will still run from Monday 30 September to Friday 4 October. Throughout the week we will hold a series of online events based around public procurement, exploring what the proposed changes will look like in practice and just how the Act will influence how suppliers do business with the UK public sector. Click here to find the related events.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does the Procurement Act need a new NPPS?

The NPPS is a statutory statement that allows the Government to set and communicate the wider policy objectives to which it expects public procurement to contribute. This might include, for example, objectives to support economic growth and opening up public contracts to small businesses. It is entirely appropriate, following a change in government, for the new administration to put in place a new NPPS reflecting its new priorities.

What will happen to the one laid in Parliament on 13 May 2024?

The NPPS laid in Parliament on 13 May 2024 was due to come into force on 28 October 2024. It will now be withdrawn and a new NPPS, once drafted and following consultation, will then be laid to complete a 40-day passage in Parliament.

What impact does this have on the Find a Tender upgrade?

Work on Find a Tender will continue at pace.  We are reviewing how best to use the time to maximise the test window and the subsequent deployments from the digital team.  We will be sharing more information on digital delivery very soon.

What impact does this have on the Procurement Review Unit?

The Procurement Review Unit (PRU) becomes live on the commencement of the Act and therefore its launch will be delayed until 24 February 2025.  Work will continue at pace with the additional time used to maximise the testing of new protocols and procedures developed. The Public Procurement Review Service will continue as an already established service.

What impact does this have on the National Security Unit for Procurement?

The Unit will become operational upon commencement of the Act.  

What happens to my planned procurement in Oct/Nov/Dec/Jan under the new regime?

If a contracting authority had been planning on commencing a procurement between October and February under the Act, it will need to make a decision whether to proceed with the planned timetable and procure under the existing regulations or to delay the start of the procurement in order to be regulated by the Act. Some contracting authorities choosing this latter approach may be able to restructure their procurement timetables to maintain the planned contract award date, or to sustain a later contract award date.

Contracting authorities who wish to extend an existing contract to cover the gap between the contract award date based on an October 2024-February 2025 procurement commencement and a later contract award date due to the delay to go-live of the Act should consider the terms of their existing contracts and whether an extension is possible under existing procurement regulations.

Will the practitioners’ learning and development still be valid?

Yes, all the official training and development is still valid and will not need amending.  All training and guidance materials on gov.uk and Government Commercial College websites will be accessible beyond the new go-live date.

You can read more about our official L&D materials here, and access our Knowledge Drop videos, aimed at suppliers and contracting authorities here.

I was about to start my training - should I now wait?

No, if you were shortly scheduled to start any training in the new regime, this is the perfect time to do so.  Early engagement with the learning will allow you to explore topics in more detail and check that the plans that your organisation has are tested more rigorously.

Should I rearrange my Deep Dive session?

No, if you have a Deep Dive scheduled, you should go ahead. There are a fixed number of cohorts and securing your place on one is important.  Early engagement with the learning will allow you to explore topics in more detail and check that the plans that your organisation has are tested more rigorously.

What impact does this have on the published guidance and guidance that is in the process of being published?

Publication of guidance will continue as planned and all currently published guidance remains valid. You can access our official Procurement Act 2023 Guidance documents here.

I was going to bid for a procurement shortly after go-live on 28 October - what’s going to happen to that?

A number of things could happen:

The contracting authority may simply delay the procurement until after the new go-live date in February 2025.

Another option is that the contracting authority will go to market using the existing legislation, which will be advertised on Find a Tender service as normal.

Or the contracting authority could cancel the procurement, and use a framework or DPS to procure the goods/service via that route.

Suppliers preparing to bid for a procurement that was about to be commenced under the Act should speak to the relevant contracting authority to understand how their plans have changed.

I’m on a framework due to expire between 28 October 2024 and 24 February 2025 - what’s going to happen to that?

It is most likely that those frameworks expiring in late 2024 will already have been re-competed or extended. For those frameworks that are expiring in early 2025 it would have been possible to re-compete in time under the Act if a tender had been issued in November 2024.  The contracting authority has two options:

to extend the existing framework where the framework allows and delay the re-procurement until after the new go-live date in February 2025
go to market using existing legislation, advertising on Find a Tender service as normal.

Suppliers preparing to bid for a place on a framework that was about to be commenced under the Act should speak to the relevant contracting authority to understand how their plans have changed.

Heather Cover-Kus

Head of Central Government Programme, techUK

Ellie Huckle

Programme Manager, Central Government, techUK

Austin Earl

Programme Manager, Central Government, techUK

Annie Collings

Programme Manager, Cyber Resilience, techUK

Ella Gago-Brookes

Team Assistant, Markets, techUK

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