Public Procurement Act 2023 delayed to 24 February 2025

Insight

16.09.2024

The Government announced on 12 September 2024 that the implementation date for the Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) has been delayed. Initially due to be implemented next month, on 28 October 2024, the Act will now come into force on 24 February 2025.

In a ministerial statement published by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (available here), the Government has explained that the reason for the delay is to allow time to produce and publish a revised National Procurement Policy Statement.

The National Procurement Policy Statement is a statement setting out the Government’s strategic priorities in relation to procurement. Under section 13(9) of the Act, contracting authorities must have regard to the Statement.

The previous administration published a Statement (available here). However, the Government has said that this Statement “does not meet the challenge of applying the full potential of public procurement to deliver value for money, economic growth, and social value”. They are therefore looking to produce a “bold and ambitious Statement that drives delivery of the Government’s missions”.

What does this mean for contracting authorities?

The four-month delay to the implementation of the Act will likely be welcome news for many contracting authorities, allowing for a smoother transition to the new public procurement regime. And indeed, this delay should allow contracting authorities further time to ensure that staff understand the new Act and prepare/update polices, processes and systems.

However, there will undoubtably be contracting authorities that are planning to commence procurements between now and 24 February 2025. Until the Government’s announcement, those contracting authorities will of course have been planning on the basis that they would be carrying out those procurements under the new Act, which is generally viewed as being more flexible than the existing regime under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCRs). Those contracting have a choice:

Press on with planned procurements. For some, delay may simply not be an option, for example due to timing and budgetary constraints. In this case, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCRs) will continue to apply. It is worth noting that under the Procurement Act 2023 (Commencement No 3 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2024, the new Act will not apply to these procurements or the resulting contracts, which must continue to be run in accordance with the PCRs. In practice, this means that any (current or future) modifications to these contracts will need to be managed in accordance with Regulation 72 of the PCRs and any challenges will also be governed by the PCRs, even after 24 February 2025.
Delay planned procurements. Where possible, contracting authorities may wish to delay procurements to take advantage of the greater flexibility of the new Act (particularly if they had planned to procure under the Act).

For further information about the new Act, please see our previous briefing, which is available here.

This publication is a general summary of the law. It should not replace legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.