Latest on timetable
Latest news on the Procurement Bill
The next debate in the House of Lords, to finalize one outstanding amendment, is scheduled for 24 October 2023, suggesting that Royal Assent may be given at some point reasonably soon after that date.
The Cabinet Office has confirmed that it is now looking at a go-live date of October 2024 (with a six months notice period ahead of that date). As with the introduction of the PCR 2015, implementation may be in successive phases.
Details of the likely approach to transition has been made public - see our blog post here on the "I've started, so I'll finish" approach.
The government has now introduced consultations on the secondary legislation that implements many of the concepts and principles set out at a high level in the Procurement Bill. The first consultation covers areas of the Bill which require lists, calculations or further definitions to be used in practice. These include, for example, the scope of the dis-application of the new Act to NHS Procurements, the appropriate scope of the Light Touch regime, and methods of calculating the "activity" tests for the "in-house" and "joint collaboration" exemptions. The second consultation covers the detail of the notices etc that authorities will publish the new Act.
You can read the latest version of the Bill and follow its progress through the legislative process here. You can access the latest news on the government's training and development package here.
Our latest resources on the Procurement Bill
PROCUREMENT BILL LATEST:
Please see our blog post on the second consultation and likely transitional implementation of the Act here.
5 in 25 - COUNTDOWN TO THE PROCUREMENT ACT
From September 2023 we will be running our popular 5 in 25 series with a focus on the Procurement Act. Through to Autumn 2024, please join us in looking at the impact of the Act on the journey through the arc of the procurement process and the operation of a public contract, from pre-procurement considerations, through choice of procedure and advertisement/transparency, to selection, evaluation, award, challenges, and operating (and reporting on) the contract. Click here to sign up to be notified.
OTHER RESOURCES:
- Our recorded vlog on the headline takeaways in relation to the first draft of the Bill
- Our latest Briefing Paper on the first draft of the Bill - part by part, chapter by chapter
- Our Procurement Phrasebook - to guide you through the new terminology in the Bill
Other useful resources
- Mills & Reeve briefing paper on government response to consultation on procurement law reform. Click here to read our briefing paper which is a handy guide to all the changes we can expect to see in the new legislation.
- Mills & Reeve webinar on the response to the consultation. Click here to view our recorded webinar which draws out the key changes on the way.
- Government paper "Getting Ready For The New Procurement Act" detailing its learning and development offer to authorities in relation to the Procurement Bill.
- Government resources page on transforming public procurement. You can click here to see the latest offer on learning and development in relation to the Bill.
Keep up to date with reform
- Please sign up to our mailing list to be kept up to date with all our resources, briefings and future webinars on public procurement law reform.