UK public procurement is about to face the biggest upheaval seen in a generation. For as long as most of us can remember all UK public procurement has been governed based on EU regulations, but from 2023 this will all change. On 10 May 2022, Her Majesty the Queen, outlined in Parliament a new Procurement Bill which intends to reform the UK’s public procurement regime. The new UK Procurement Bill is expected to become law next year. The Procurement Bill has now completed its committee and report stage in the House of Lords and has been passed to the House of Commons. The Bill will tear up hundreds of complicated and bureaucratic EU rules and replace them with a single, simple and flexible framework for securing public sector contracts. This means that almost everything related to how government contracts are procured and awarded will change.
The scale of change to the procurement regime will be significant and far-reaching. The Bill sets out a new framework for procurement which at £300bn accounts for around a third of UK public expenditure each year. The changes will apply to all public sector bodies, including local authorities and central government departments. The impact will also be significant for all companies and others who sell goods and services to the public sector. Everyone involved will need time to prepare themselves to function effectively under the new regime. We don’t yet know what the new rules will finally look like. The draft Bill is complicated and detailed legislation and will most definitely be amended as it progresses through parliament. It started out at 122 pages long, with 116 operative provisions and 11 Schedules, there’s a lot of detail. If what is given Royal Assent at the end of the legislative process is mostly in line with the initial draft, it’s clear that procurement practice in this country will change enormously.
It is important that we are prepared for the turmoil that is coming. If you are a public sector buyer or a seller to government, all procurement related governance, processes and control will need to be reassessed. Management and staff will need training and new guidance will need to be written. We will need to upskill our teams if we are to effectively perform our roles under the new regime.
So mark this space; be warned … change is coming.
In2 the bargain 