Procurement Bill update — Act to enter into force in October 2024 as secondary legislation consultation begins

The Procurement Act is now likely to enter into force in October 2024, following progress on the Procurement Bill.

Here, Partner and public procurement specialist Michael Winder provides a full update on The Bill’s journey through the legal system.

Where is the Procurement Bill?

June 2023 has seen some important progress on the Procurement Bill, which has finally completed the House of Commons Report Stage and had its Third Reading on 13 June.

The Bill is now passing into its final stages, the first of which is the Consideration of Amendments back in the House of Lords. The House of Lords will consider whether it accepts the final changes of the Procurement Bill, following its passage through the House of Commons. If the House of Lords does not agree with all of the changes, there will be a period of ping-pong between the two Houses as they settle on the Bill’s final details.

When will the Procurement Act enter into force?

It is understood that the Government is targeting for Royal Assent to be granted on what will be known as the Procurement Act before the summer recess gets underway on 20 July 2023. It has been confirmed that following Royal Assent, the Procurement Act will commence on or around October 2024.

This delayed commencement allows for consultation on (and the implementation of) the necessary secondary legislation that will sit under the new Procurement Act, as well as the six-month lead-in period that has been baked into the Procurement Bill from an early stage.

Secondary legislation

The consultation on the secondary legislation (which is split into two parts) has now commenced.

The first part — Transforming Public Procurement Part 1 Consultation on draft regulations to implement the Procurement Bill — was issued by the Cabinet Office on 19 June 2023. This is predominantly in reference to areas of the Procurement Bill that require lists, calculations or further definitions to be used in practice. This consultation will close at 11.45pm on 28 July 2023. Interested parties can respond to the consultation via the gov.uk website.

The second part of the consultation is yet to be released. It will cover the transparency provisions and notices that will be used by contracting authorities in order to fulfil their legal requirements under the Procurement Act. It will also include information on the proposed approach by the Cabinet Office on transitional arrangements for procurements already underway at the time the new regime comes into force, as well as the position of other legislation that will need to be amended in order to allow the new Procurement Act to fully take effect.

We understand that the second part of the consultation will launch following closure of Part 1, although further details will be provided in due course.

Talk to us

With the Procurement Bill getting increasingly closer to being locked down as it nears Royal Assent, keep an eye out for our further updates on its relevant provisions.

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If you are interested in the Bill or any training in respect of it, get in touch with me at michael.winder@brabners.com or another member of our procurement team.