Date
18th December 2023

The New Procurement Act, which goes live in October 2024, aims to establish a single legal framework for the award of public contracts. Many of the features of the new regime will remain the same, but several significant changes are proposed.

Interim Head of SUPC, Gemma Payne, has summarised the new act in the SUPC Procurement Act Impact Review which is now available exclusively for members to read in full.

SUPC members can access the full report below.

Private Files

Please login to view private documents.

Despite the challenges presented by the Procurement Act changes, there are notable positive aspects to consider including adding flexibility and agility to parts of procurement processes. The bill may add bureaucracy around transparency notices which could initially increase risk for us as an organisation and members, both legally and reputationally, but will ultimately strengthen the integrity of both.

What are the key milestones of the Procurement Act?

A timeline to show the key milestones of the Procurement Act from December 2021 - October 2024

Procurement reform – are you ready?

Table to show the differences between the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the new Procurement Act 2023

The notices may also add additional time to procurement processes. SUPC is working to ensure that there are adequate resources to fulfil these increased obligations to reduce the impact of additional burdens on procurement teams.

What are the procurement principles?

Graphic to show the procurement principles of the new procurement Act 2023

Are you ready for the Procurement Act?

Checklist to see if your organisation is ready for the new Procurement Act in 2024
Graphic to show key questions to ask yourselves about the Procurement Act

SUPC will be looking at specialist training required in relation to data protection and what information cannot be released or must be redacted to avoid exposure to data breach claims. We see that significant training will be required across the whole sector for the new obligations. In the long run, these efforts can contribute to a more resilient, compliant, and efficient procurement sector.

If you would like to discuss any of the topics raised with us, please start the conversation at supc@reading.ac.uk.