Procurement Act 2023: "going live" on 28 October 2024
02 May 2024
The Procurement Act 2023 received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. This creates a new public procurement rulebook in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is part of Government's strategy of overhauling EU-derived legislation following Brexit. The Act is not yet in force, but the Cabinet Office has now set an intended "go live" date of 28 October 2024. Procuring authorities and bidders for public sector contracts now have six months to prepare.
On 22 April 2024, the Cabinet Office informally announced that it is "working towards a go-live date" of Monday 28 October 2024 for the Procurement Act 2023 to come into force. The date will be formalised in commencement regulations, which are expected to be laid before Parliament in May or June.
EU Member States are required to implement and apply various EU directives on public procurement. As result, the UK Government did not have control over the scope of its public procurement rules prior to the end of the Brexit transition period. This has all changed and, as part of delivering Brexit, the Cabinet Office launched its "Transforming Public Procurement" project in December 2020 with the aim of overhauling the UK's existing public procurement rules.
Following extensive consultation with stakeholders, the Procurement Bill was laid before Parliament on 11 May 2022 (see our July 2022 update). The Procurement Act ultimately received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. However, it did not enter into force immediately as secondary legislation needs to be laid before Parliament to give effect to the new regime and the Cabinet Office was keen that stakeholders have the opportunity to prepare for the new regime.
Many aspects of the Procurement Act are based closely on the existing rules. This is unsurprising given that:
Helpfully, a key objective of the Procurement Act is simplification. In particular, the current EU-derived public procurement rules are complex and are derived from a patchwork of different directives. The Procurement Act introduces a number of changes which should make procurement processes easier to understand. Most importantly, the Procurement Act:
However, there are a number of significant areas of change which both procuring authorities and bidders for public sector contracts will need to familiarise themselves with over the coming months. Key reforms include:
In March 2024, the Procurement Regulations 2024 were laid before Parliament to bring some elements of the Act and the wider regime into effect.
The announcement of the 28 October 2024 "go live" date is intended to mark the beginning of the six month preparation period. The Cabinet Office has indicated that the following activities will take place ahead of that date to ensure stakeholders are ready for the new regime:
The Transforming Public Procurement website contains a range of information about the procurement reforms, including "Knowledge Drops" aimed at both contracting authorities and suppliers. You can also register for updates from the Cabinet Office on the reforms by completing this form.
On 22 April 2024, the Government published guidance on transitional and saving arrangements. In short, the existing rules will continue to apply for procurements that were "commenced" before the Act entered into force. For these purposes, a procurement will be treated having commenced before the Act entered into force if a call for competition has already been published.
The information provided is not intended to be a comprehensive review of all developments in the law and practice, or to cover all aspects of those referred to.
Readers should take legal advice before applying it to specific issues or transactions.