Procurement Bill Royal Assent

The Procurement Bill received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. It will now be referred to as the Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) and will come into force in October 2024.

The Act will replace the existing legislation, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Concessions Contracts Regulations 2016 and govern how contracting authorities such as central government departments, NHS Trusts, Integrated Care Boards, registered providers of social housing and local authorities procure goods, services and works.

There is still a lot of work to do before the new Act comes into force next year. The next step will be finalising the secondary legislation which sets out the detail in relation to areas such as notices and definitions. These are undergoing a consultation process and it is expected that draft statutory instruments will be laid before parliament in early 2024.

There will be a six month lead in period before the new Act comes into force. This is expected to include a government training programme and guidance notes. A brochure about the government’s learning and development programme is expected shortly and “knowledge drops” are expected to launch in December 2023. Procurement teams should ensure they sign up to the “Transforming Public Procurement” webpages on Gov.uk so they are alerted to these.

New procurement thresholds

The new procurement thresholds which will apply from 1 January 2024 have been issued. 

The procurement thresholds under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 are reviewed every two years.

Please note that the threshold for services under the so-called “light touch regime” and for small lots have not changed.

The thresholds which will apply from 1 January 2024 are as follows:

These new thresholds apply to any procurements commenced on or after 1 January 2024 (but do not affect procurements commenced prior to this).

Contracting authorities should ensure that their policies and procedures reflect these changes from 1 January 2024 and that they take these new thresholds into account when calculating contract values for their pipeline procurements.

How Capsticks can help

Capsticks acts for both contracting authorities and bidders. With extensive knowledge of procurement law, our specialist team are always on hand to review to support you with all aspects of the procurement process and how to get ready for the new Procurement Act.

Please speak to Katrina Day or Mary Mundy to find out more about how Capsticks can help.