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On 26 October 2023 the landmark Procurement Bill was granted Royal Assent, marking the largest changes in UK public procurement regulations seen to date.
The Transforming Public Procurement (TPP) programme is aimed at improving public procurement regulation to save the taxpayer money and drive social, environmental and economic benefits across the UK.
Each year the public sector spends around £300bn on public procurement. This includes spend on:
goods: such as office equipment or hospital beds
works: the building and maintenance of roads, schools, and major infrastructure projects
services: adult social care, waste management, and technology services
As the United Kingdom has left the European Union, the regulations governing how that money is spent will change in autumn 2024.
Crown Commercial Service powers procurement across the entire public sector. We’re here to help the UK public sector get better value for money from its procurement of goods and services.
We know the importance of being compliant when buying common goods and services. We are working closely with the Cabinet Office to understand the new regulations to ensure public sector organisations can take advantage of the benefits as soon as the new regulations come into effect.
What is the Procurement Act 2023?
The current regulations governing UK procurement were put in place by the EU. When the UK left the EU, the government wanted to create a simpler, more flexible, commercial system that better meets our country’s needs while remaining compliant with our international obligations.
Some benefits the new regulations aim to bring are slashing red tape and supporting innovation; improving transparency by creating an open and transparent system meaning everyone has access to public procurement data; faster competition processes for emergency buying; and making it easier to do business with the public sector, supporting more SMEs to win work in the public sector.
The Cabinet Office is leading the Procurement Act 2023 programme. To find more detailed information on how to prepare for the implementation of the regime, visit the Cabinet Office Transforming Public Procurement webpage.
What CCS is doing to prepare for the Procurement Act 2023?
CCS has set up a dedicated project team that will implement our internal changes iteratively until the new regime goes live.
As an organisation we will:
manage and implement Transforming Public Procurement as a key project for CCS, with dedicated internal staff working on this full time
support customers with implementing the new regime through thought leadership and guidance
provide guidance to customers on how to use our products once the new regulations are live
We have taken an organisation-wide approach to implementation and broken this down into five workstreams:
Commercial activity: review all current and planned commercial opportunities
Standard operating procedures and policies: ensure they are robust and future-proofed for the new regime
Guidance and information: review the documents that your teams and suppliers use and ensure they are current
Systems: consider the readiness of your organisation’s systems and what changes may be needed
People: ensure your people understand Transforming Public Procurement and undertake the necessary training
Learn more about our approach to implementation
Download our implementation guidance document, where you can find detailed information for each of the five workstreams, including a checklist of considerations for each.
