The Procurement Bill received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. It will now be referred to as the Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) and will come into force in October 2024.
The Act will replace the existing legislation, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Concessions Contracts Regulations 2016 and govern how contracting authorities such as central government departments, NHS Trusts, Integrated Care Boards, registered providers of social housing and local authorities procure goods, services and works.
There is still a lot of work to do before the new Act comes into force next year. The next step will be finalising the secondary legislation which sets out the detail in relation to areas such as notices and definitions. These are undergoing a consultation process and it is expected that draft statutory instruments will be laid before parliament in early 2024.
There will be a six month lead in period before the new Act comes into force. This is expected to include a government training programme and guidance notes. A brochure about the government’s learning and development programme is expected shortly and “knowledge drops” are expected to launch in December 2023. Procurement teams should ensure they sign up to the “Transforming Public Procurement” webpages on Gov.uk so they are alerted to these.
New procurement thresholds
The new procurement thresholds which will apply from 1 January 2024 have been issued.
The procurement thresholds under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 are reviewed every two years.
Date: 6 November