Local authority procurement teams will have been watching with interest the progress of the Procurement Bill. The Bill is almost ready for Royal Assent and it is anticipated that it will come in force in October 2024. This will replace the existing legislation, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

As part of this reform process two consultations are currently underway in relation to the secondary legislation to be put in place. Of note to local authorities in the first consultation is the intention to dis-apply section 17 of the Local Government Act 1988 (LGA). This is to tie in with Procurement Policy Note 11/20, which allows below threshold contracts to be reserved:

• to suppliers in the UK, a particular county or a particular London borough; and/or
• for Small and Medium Sized Entities and Voluntary Community and Social Enterprises.

The Procurement Policy Note (PPN) is not a legal requirement for Local Authorities, but the principles it sets out are considered best practice. This, however, created a conflict for Local Authorities as they are prohibited under the LGA from taking into account “non-commercial matters” in their procurement decisions including “the location in any country or territory of the business activities or interests of, contractors”. The provision proposed will remove this conflict, giving Local Authorities more flexibility to apply the principles set out in the PPN for below threshold procurements.

This will only apply to contracts entered into on or after the new Statutory Instrument comes into force (which will likely be October 2024), so the position remains unchanged for Local Authorities currently.

Local Government Forward View 2023

This article is part of Capsticks’ Local Government Forward View 2023. Read the other articles featured in this publication below:

• Combined Authorities
• Investment Zones
• Building Safety Reforms
• Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill
• Online Safety Bill
• Environmental Impact Assessments
• Industrial action
• The conflict between trans rights and religion or belief
• Public service pension scheme reform

How Capsticks can help

To discuss how this may affect your organisation, please get in touch with Mary Mundy, Katrina Day or Tiffany Cloynes.