Procurement spring update

In summer 2023, the Government produced a set of draft regulations, in respect of which it ran a two-part consultation. Part 1 of the consultation ran from 19 June 2023 to 28 July 2023 and focused on implementation of policy objectives, definitions and lists etc required to supplement the Procurement Act (including technical details related to Light Touch Contracts and vertical and horizontal exempted contracts). Part 2 ran from 17 July to 25 August 2023 and focused on the transparency provisions, notices and transitional arrangements.

On 22 March 2024, the Government published its response to the public consultation (here), which noted that the consultation response was largely positive and no significant changes to the regulations were deemed necessary.

Procurement regulations

On 25 March 2024, the corresponding Procurement Regulations 2024 were laid in Parliament. The regulations are a statutory instrument, a form of secondary legislation, and provide detail of the new procurement regime.

The Procurement Regulations 2024 will come into force on the same day as the Procurement Act 2023, namely 28 October 2024. This 'go live' date will not be affected by the announcement of the General Election, as the date was formalised in The Procurement Act 2023 (Commencement No.3 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2024, which were signed on 23 May 2024.

These regulations also set out the transitional arrangements for procurements commenced before 28 October 2024.

National Procurement Policy Statement

On 13 May 2024, the new proposed National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) was laid in Parliament under a 40-day 'negative' procedure. It will outline the strategic priorities for public procurement and how contracting authorities can support delivery. All contracting authorities must have regard to the NPPS as prescribed by section 13 of the Procurement Act.

The Cabinet Office has confirmed that the NPPS will come into force along with the Procurement Act on 28 October 2024 but this does not account for the impact of the General Election and the fact that whilst Parliament is dissolved, the 40 day period is paused (section 13(6) Procurement Act 2023). In addition, if during the course of the 40 day period, either House resolves not to approve the NPPS, it must be withdrawn (section 13(4) Procurement Act 2023).

Once in force, the NPPS will remain "remain in place until it is withdrawn, amended or replaced, and can be reviewed when the Minister for the Cabinet Office considers it appropriate to do so. When considering whether to review the statement, the Minister for the Cabinet Office will give regard to whether there has been a significant change in any circumstances on which the statement was based and whether such change was anticipated when the statement was published." (National Procurement Policy Statement, Cabinet Office, 13 May 2024).

Presumably therefore, should the outcome of the General Election result in a change of political power, the NPPS may be reviewed and amended before its 28 October 2024 implementation date.

The NPPS will apply to all contracting authorities as defined in section 2 of the Procurement Act, apart from the following exempted authorities and procurements listed in section 13(10):

• Private utilities
• Contracts awarded under a framework or dynamic market
• Procurements under devolved Welsh or transferred Northern Irish procurement arrangements
• Devolved Welsh authorities or transferred Northern Irish authorities.

The Cabinet Office has confirmed that the intention of the new regime is that the scope of its application will be as is the case currently. Therefore, those entities who are not captured by the current regime should not be captured by the new regime.

Guidance

The Cabinet Office is publishing a suite of guidance documents to address all aspects of the new regime, and will provide technical guidance to help with interpretation and understanding (available here). The Cabinet Office has arranged the guidance documents under the four stages of the commercial procurement pathway: Plan; Define; Procure; Manage.

The guidance is being published in batches; the three batches published to date relate to the majority of the Plan and Define phases. At present no guidance has been published regarding the Procure or Manage phases, and a number of guidance documents from the Plan and Define phases are still awaited. The remaining documents are expected to be made available by the end of June. 

Resources

In addition to the continued publication of Procurement Act guidance, the Cabinet Office has set out that it will also produce further supporting documents and resources. The Cabinet Office is rolling out a learning and development programme to support stakeholders, summarised in its Learning & Development Brochure, which includes e-learning, knowledge drops and deep dive webinars. The brochure enables stakeholders to decide which products are most suitable for their team's needs and plan their training programmes over the coming months.

E-learning

E-learning modules produced by the Cabinet Office are now available and aimed at all levels of operational procurement staff, covering all aspects of the new regime, including: transparency, competitive flexible procedure and regulation changes.

Those who complete the course will be awarded a certificate along with an e-badge to evidence attainment.

The e-learning modules are only available via registration with the Government Commercial College (here).

Knowledge Drops

'Knowledge Drops' are short broadcast presentations available on demand and are aimed at people who need a general level of awareness of the new regime.

Deep Dive webinars

The Deep Dive webinars will take the form of a three-day intensive course aimed at smaller groups of advanced commercial practitioners who need expert knowledge on operating within the new regime. The webinars will also allow attendees to engage with subject experts.