The Delay of the Procurement Act 2023

It’s been a few weeks since the UK government decided to postpone the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023, moving the start date from October 28, 2024 to February 24, 2025.

Prior to the announcement, there was a lot of activity on LinkedIn and other social media platforms with rumours and chat. Then I don’t know about you but at least 2 out of 3 posts on the 12th were announcing the delay, but now things have gone quiet again, are we all just finally able to breathe or is there a sense of shock that whilst there were rumours, we never actually believed it would happen after such a long lead up? The delay has significant implications for public sector procurement and the various stakeholders involved, and these are covered below.

Why the delay?

Despite a widespread belief that the Central Digital Platform would be the cause of the delay, the government’s official announcement cited the need to develop a new National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) as the primary reason. The previous NPPS was found to be inadequate in leveraging public sector procurement to deliver value for money, economic growth, and social value.

The additional time will allow for the creation of a more comprehensive and ambitious NPPS that aligns with the current government’s priorities.

Given the widespread discussions about the Central Digital Platform not being ready, it’s convenient to change the narrative to focus on creating an improved NPPS. The government likely knew they wanted to create a new NPPS, so why was the announcement made just six weeks before the planned launch? Let’s face it, many people were on the verge of being ready, so this delay has caused unnecessary hassle and potential uncertainty for them.

What are the Implications?

The delay has given contracting authorities and suppliers more time to prepare for the new procurement act.

However, the challenge is that we don’t know what the new NPPS will be and exactly when it will be published. Many of you will have been ready or almost ready for the launch and will have attended webinars, training sessions, deep dives, reviewed documents and planned/panicked over the amount of additional admin that’s going to be required.

How prepared were you for the original go-live date? With the delay and planned amendment of the NPPS, are you thinking that the work you have already done may be for nothing and will need to be re-done, alongside updated webinars and training sessions (even if just refresher ones)? Those procurements that had been delayed to go out with the new regulations, can you delay them again? Looks like it’s going to be particularly busy after Christmas, lucky that’s a quiet time and not when people are trying to spend the last of their budgets!

On the other hand, you may be breathing a sigh of relief as you were nowhere near ready, still didn’t understand all of the changes, and were hoping it would just click before go-live.

What are the benefits of the delay?

While delays are typically viewed as setbacks, this postponement does present several advantages.

The additional time allows for a smoother transition to the new act, enabling contracting authorities and suppliers to better understand and implement the new rules, ultimately leading to enhanced compliance and efficiency. Moreover, the new NPPS aims to provide a clearer and more effective framework for public sector procurement, which is expected to result in better outcomes for the public sector and businesses that supply them.

And with luck, they may review Dynamic Marketplace only being open to above threshold procurements and, that the Central Digital Platform should be ready the next time around!

What next?

Whilst we cannot guarantee no further delays, it is clear that this additional time is valuable for you to become compliant.
eXceeding is offering a concise Procurement Act Health Check to measure readiness and enable the development of a roadmap for transition which includes:

1. 
   Measurement of preparedness for the Act;
2. 
   Identification of key areas of risk;
3. 
   Recommendation of prioritised activities to inform the transition plan.

To book a Procurement Act Health Check for your organisation, contact us to schedule your initial call.

Contact us to discover how eXceeding can help your organisation including assisting you with your procurements (both pre and post February), developing your policies and procedures, and guiding you through the transition and beyond to ensure compliance.