Doing business with us Transforming public procurement

If you want to do business with Shropshire Council you'll need to follow new legislation for any new projects from 28 October 2024.

Overview

Later this year, significant new legislation will come into effect that will transform public procurement - the Procurement Act 2023. The ‘go-live’ date for the new regime is Monday 28 October 2024.

This is an important piece of legislation that will change the way the public sector buys goods and services, and will have an impact on the way we procure from our suppliers.

The existing procurement regulations will continue to apply for contracts that are already in progress, and for procurement projects started under the current regime. However for all new procurement projects post-October 2024 it's important that you understand the change.  

The Cabinet Office, which is leading the Transforming Public Procurement programme, will be providing regular updates. You can subscribe to their update bulletin and check in to the dedicated Gov.UK page. There are also plenty of conferences and events which will explain how things will be different under the new regime. 

Useful links

What to do to prepare

Key objectives

A key objective for the Procurement Act 2023 is to make it easier for suppliers to do business with the public sector. As such, there are some core benefits for suppliers once the new regime goes live in October, including:

  • A central place to register and to store their core business details so that they can be used for multiple bids
  • Improved transparency and access to information, with all public procurement opportunities in one place - making it easier to search for and set up alerts for procurement projects of interest to you
  • Better visibility of procurement plans, engagement events and tender opportunities - including those below threshold - increasing the number of opportunities available to bid on
  • Greater visibility about who is bidding for, and winning, larger public sector contracts above £5m, and the details of those public contracts
  • Simplified bidding processes to make it easier to bid, negotiate and work in partnership with the public sector - including a new ‘competitive flexible’ procedure
  • Frameworks will be more flexible, so prospective suppliers aren't shut out for long periods of time
  • A new duty on contracting authorities to have regard to the particular barriers facing SMEs and VCSEs, and to consider what can be done to overcome them throughout the procurement life cycle, helping level the playing field for smaller businesses so that they can compete for more contracts
  • Strengthened provisions for prompt payment throughout the supply chain - enabling SMEs to benefit from 30-day payment terms on a broader range of public sector contracts
  • A stronger exclusions framework will take tougher action on underperforming suppliers

Further information

Our Procurement Team is now working through the necessary training and guidance materials so that we're ready to operate under the new regulations and realise the benefits of the new regime when it goes live.

The Cabinet Office will continue working with leading business groups and trade associations to make sure information is available for suppliers.

There's already a range of information and resources about the new regime on the Transforming Public Procurement website. There are also the ‘Knowledge Drop’ videos, with dedicated versions designed specifically for suppliers, including SME and VCSE suppliers. These will give you a broader understanding of the changes which will be coming.