Breaking news: date change of Procurement Act 2023

This morning, the UK Government announced a delay to the commencement of the Procurement Act 2023. The Act will now commence on 24 February 2025, instead of 28 October this year.

Why the delay?

As part of the new Act, the previous Conservative administration created a National Procurement Policy Statement, which contracting authorities must follow under the law.

However, the new Labour administration has identified that this NPPS is not designed to achieve the best value, boost the economy, or benefit society.

Ministers have, therefore, decided to produce a new NPPS and delay the commencement of the Act until this new NPPS is in place. The NPPS laid by the previous administration, which would have come into force with the Act, will be withdrawn.

What does this mean for you?

Until then however it is business as usual, although we anticipate many organisations will welcome the additional time to prepare for the new Act. We still await the new Central Digital Platform and the forms which authorities will be required to publish, as well as details of how suppliers should register on the new platform (a mandatory requirement in order to be awarded a public contract).

We are still helping authorities prepare for the new Act: reviewing and preparing template documents and processes, and providing training. If you would like us to help with this, or if you have any general queries about the Act, please contact Alison Walton.