Procurement Act 2023: What Suppliers Need to Know

Before October 2024, UK public procurement was governed by four separate EU-derived statutory instruments: the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (covering most public sector procurement), the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (energy, water, transport, postal services), the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 (service and works concessions), and the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (defence and sensitive security procurement). Each had different rules, procedures, and thresholds, creating complexity for both buyers and suppliers.

The Procurement Act 2023 consolidated these into a single framework applying to all public procurement in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Defence procurement retains some specific provisions but is brought within the same legislative structure. Scotland did not adopt the Act — it continues to operate under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and its own Scottish-specific regulations. This means suppliers bidding across the UK must still understand two distinct regulatory regimes.

The most impactful change for suppliers is the introduction of the competitive flexible procedure. Previously, contracting authorities had to choose from a menu of defined procedures — open, restricted, competitive dialogue, competitive procedure with negotiation, or innovation partnership — each with prescribed rules about selection stages, negotiation rights, and timelines. The competitive flexible procedure replaces all of these (except the open procedure and direct award) with a single flexible framework.

Under the competitive flexible procedure, the contracting authority designs the procurement process to suit the specific requirement. They decide how many stages to include, whether and when to negotiate, how to evaluate, and what timelines to set. This gives buyers significantly more discretion than the old EU-derived procedures allowed. For suppliers, this means: read every procurement document carefully, because no two competitive flexible procedures will be identical. The days of knowing exactly what to expect from a “restricted procedure” or “competitive dialogue” are over — each procurement will set its own rules within the Act’s broad parameters.

The Procurement Act 2023 introduced several new notice types that dramatically increase transparency in UK procurement. Pipeline notices require contracting authorities to publish a rolling 12-month forecast of planned procurements estimated above £2 million. These notices appear on Find a Tender and give suppliers unprecedented advance visibility of upcoming opportunities — months or even a year before formal tenders launch.

Preliminary market engagement notices signal that a buyer is consulting the market before committing to a formal procurement, giving suppliers an opportunity to shape the eventual specification. Transparency notices apply to certain below-threshold contracts, expanding the volume of visible opportunities. Post-award, contract details notices, key performance indicator (KPI) reports, and contract modification notices create a public record of contract performance. For suppliers who monitor systematically, this wealth of new data improves pipeline forecasting, competitive intelligence, and bid preparation significantly.

The Act established a central debarment register maintained by the Cabinet Office. This replaces the previous system where each contracting authority made independent exclusion decisions with limited visibility into other authorities’ decisions. Mandatory exclusion grounds include convictions for fraud, bribery, money laundering, modern slavery, tax offences, and offences involving environmental damage. Discretionary exclusion grounds cover poor past performance, professional misconduct, significant professional deficiency, national security concerns, and insolvency.

The register creates a shared record that all contracting authorities must check before awarding contracts. An ‘excluded supplier’ entry prevents that supplier from winning any UK public contract for the duration of the exclusion. The register also includes an ‘investigated supplier’ status for cases under review. For compliant suppliers, the debarment register is good news — it levels the playing field by ensuring that suppliers with serious compliance failures cannot continue winning public contracts by simply bidding with different authorities.

The Act modified the standstill period — the mandatory pause between announcing the winning bidder and signing the contract, which gives unsuccessful bidders time to challenge the decision. Under the old PCR 2015 rules, the standstill period was 10 calendar days from the date the contract award decision was communicated. The Procurement Act 2023 retains the standstill concept but adjusts the mechanics.

The Act introduces an automatic suspension: if a supplier brings a legal challenge during the standstill period, the contract cannot be signed until the court lifts the suspension. This is more supplier-friendly than the previous regime where challengers had to apply for an interim order to prevent contract execution. Challenge rights have also been broadened — the Act provides for a specific procurement review process that allows suppliers to raise concerns about a procurement before and after the contract award decision. Understanding these remedies is important for suppliers who believe they have been unfairly treated in a procurement process.

Beyond the headline changes, the Procurement Act 2023 contains several practical implications that affect day-to-day bidding. The Act codifies 30-day payment terms for public contracts and requires these to flow through the supply chain. Selection questionnaires must be proportionate to the contract, and the Act prohibits certain types of turnover requirements that previously disadvantaged SMEs. The concept of “covered procurement” defines exactly which contracts fall under the Act’s scope.

Buyers must publish assessment summaries explaining how they evaluated bids — giving unsuccessful bidders more insight into why they didn’t win. The Act also requires buyers to have regard to the importance of SME participation and allows for the creation of supplier-friendly procurement strategies. For bid managers, the key adaptation is building more flexibility into your bid process — procurement timelines and procedures will vary more between contracts, requiring careful reading of each procurement’s specific assessment methodology.

The Procurement Act 2023’s new notice types mean more data is published on Find a Tender than ever before. Pipeline notices, preliminary market engagement notices, transparency notices, and the existing contract and award notices create a comprehensive picture of UK procurement activity. Jorpex monitors Find a Tender for all notice types, delivering matching opportunities — including pipeline notices and market engagement signals — to your Slack channel or email.

By monitoring pipeline notices, your business development team can build a 12-month procurement forecast without manually checking Find a Tender. By tracking market engagement notices, you can participate in shaping procurement specifications before formal tenders launch. Combined with monitoring of Contracts Finder and the devolved portals for below-threshold opportunities, Jorpex provides a comprehensive view of UK procurement under the new Act. Configure keyword filters to include Procurement Act-specific terminology and notice types to maximise the value of the enhanced transparency the Act provides.