Following on from the announcement of the Procurement Bill in the Queen’s Speech earlier this week, the Government have released more details on their plans for “laws that will simplify procurement in the public sector”.
Main elements
The details have been announced in this briefing paper, from page 74; the main elements of the Bill are:
- Enshrining in law the principles of public procurement such as: value for money, public benefit, transparency, integrity, fair treatment of suppliers and non-discrimination.
- Overhauling the complex and inflexible procurement procedures and replacing them with three simple, modern procedures. This will allow the public sector more scope to negotiate with potential suppliers to deliver innovative new solutions.
- Requiring buyers to have regard to the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement as set out in a new National Procurement Policy Statement.
- Introducing procurement processes that allow contracting authorities to buy at pace, for serious situations that are declared a crisis, with strengthened safeguards for transparency.
- Establishing a single data platform for supplier registration that ensures suppliers only have to submit their data once to qualify for any public sector procurement.
- Tackling unacceptable behaviour such as supplier fraud through new exclusion rules and giving buyers the tools to properly take account of a bidder’s past performance.
- Reforming the process for challenging procurement decisions to speed up the review system and make it more accessible and capping the level of damages available to bidders in order to reduce the attractiveness of speculative claims.
Scope
The provisions in the Bill will extend to the whole of the UK. The provisions will apply to all contracting authorities in England and to contracting authorities carrying out reserved functions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK Government is in discussion with the devolved Welsh and Scottish Governments and Northern Ireland Executive about the application of some provisions.
Training
HEPA will continue to monitor the progress of the Procurement Bill and keep you updated as soon as announcements are made. As detail of the implications and timescales become clearer we will be arranging training for colleagues across the sector nationally.
14 May 2021 
Ashley Shelbrooke, HEPA and Project Specialist
