Public sector procurement undergoes many changes today as the updated legislation comes into effect
The Procurement Act 2023 changes the process of procurement, attempting to streamline it.
The new act is intended to give more aid to suppliers, particularly SMEs, start-ups, and social enterprises.
The act makes changes to frameworks
The Procurement Act 2023 brings the following changes into effect:
- Changes the bidding process to make it more simple through more ease of bidding, negotiation, and working in partnership with the public sector, with a new ‘competitive flexible’ procedure
- Opens up commercial frameworks allowing prospective suppliers more access and not being shut out for long periods
- Removes bureaucratic barriers for smaller businesses and VCSEs allowing them to compete for more contracts, and strengthening provisions for payment throughout the supply chain. Payment terms can now be 30-days on more public sector contracts
- Public bodies are now required to provide consistent feedback for suppliers for public bodies to provide bid assessments for final tenders
- Launch of Find a Tender – a central digital platform that allows for easier contract bidding, allowing you to register and store your business details to use on multiple bids, and making procurement opportunities more visible
- The Procurement Review Unit has been established, being responsible for oversight of public procurement and engaging with contracting authorities across sectors and suppliers to raise standards in public procurement
- The PRU will also build on the current Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS) to allow concerns with public procurement to be addressed, specifically with matters of procedure and late payment
The industry has been looking forward to the Procurement Act 2023
In April last year, a roofing contractors survey highlighted several issues that many contractors are concerned by.
One of the key issues was sustainability in procurement considerations, showing a gap between rhetoric and reality with a lack of a cohesive approach among members’ clients.
Writing for PBC Today in November last year, Catherine Manning described how an updated bidding system would benefit social value in firms, warning against over reliance on apprenticeships as an ‘easy win’.
Manning wrote: “Apprenticeships have hugely tangible benefits, but they are not the only social value path. The decision on what to do should be based on needs and potential for greatest impact, and that needs to be better determined by data and not the default solution.”
Alexi Mitchell, commercial partner at Gowling WLG, said: “The Act represents the biggest shake-up of our procurement laws for over thirty years. Until now, the existing procurement regime in the UK has been derived from EU rules on public procurement, dating from 2014; before that we also had a procurement rulebook derived from the previous EU law.
“The Act will consolidate various existing public procurement rules into one regime based on national priorities and certain objectives seen as key by the Government – for example, overcoming the barriers faced by smaller businesses to taking part in public procurement.
“Some of the changes are significant, will open up new opportunities for greater competition, and provide scope for a much more flexible procurement process and approach to contract management. And with certain sector-specific provisions made and exclusions applied, it will be important for organisations to determine how the Act will apply to them and ensure they are well equipped to respond.”
More information about the Procurement Review Unit can be found here. Further guidance for suppliers has been published and can be found here.
