The UK Procurement Act Webinar Summary and Insights

Preparing for the Procurement Act 2023

Missed our recent, well-attended webinar on how to prepare for the new Procurement Act? Don’t worry – we've got all the main points below...

Meet the panel

Mark Reddy, Global Director of Growth - Finance, Procurement and Government at OneAdvanced was joined by an expert panel from the world of procurement who talked openly about the challenges of preparing for the new Act, while providing invaluable insight and guidance. The panel consisted of:

Lorraine Cox, Director of Procurement, S.T.A.R Procurement

Stuart Brown, Snr. Associate - Public Procurement, Trowers & Hamlins

Emma Briggs, Director of Procurement, Metro Thames Valley Housing

Getting Ready

The webinar began with a live survey to over 250 attendees to establish their level of preparedness for the new Act and to spark off our panel discussion.

Nearly one third (32%) said they were aware of the Act, but have no plans underway, 24% said they were at the initial planning stages with few resources, and 38% said they were in progress with partial resources allocated. A further 6% said they were near completion, while none of the attendees said they were fully prepared.

These results reflected the experiences of the panel, who noted that they hadn’t spoken to any organisation that was fully prepared for the Act, and that many were in the initial planning stages.

Mark continued by outlining the aims of the new Act: to create a simpler and more flexible commercial system. The Act will enable contracting authorities to tailor their procurement approaches, achieving better outcomes and saving money for the public purse.

Taking Note

The Act stipulates much more transparency than before, with equal treatment to suppliers (unless justified by difference) and barriers removed for engagement with SMEs. Transparency will be embedded throughout the entire commercial cycle and will require the publishing of transparency notices. Currently these include:

Pipeline Notice – mandatory for public contracting authorities spending over £100m annually

Planned Procurement Notice – replacing the current PIN

Early Market Engagement Notice – if EME has been carried out

Tender Notice – both for Open and Competitive Flexible Tender

Transparency Notice – must be published whenever a direct award is made – even if via a framework

Contract Award Notice – for all contracts and to be completed before the contract is signed

Contract Details Notice – at least 3 KPIs published annually to measure performance; for contracts over £5m, the contract itself must be published

Contact Performance Notice – 3 KPIs plus all performance failures

Contract Change Notice – if a contract is worth more than £5m, the modification must be published alongside the contract itself

Payment Compliance Notice – all payments over £30,000 must be published, and authorities must pay undisputed invoices within 30 days of date of receipt

Contract Termination Notice – must be published on all terminations, even when contract successfully performed or simply expired

Stuart noted that many of his clients were concerned about how to report and publish the notices and that successful preparation for the Act would involve a change in culture amongst contracting authorities.

One of the aims of the new Act is to simplify processes – in reality the Act consists of 11 parts, with 13 schedules and secondary legislation, and up to 38 pieces of guidance to be published by government. Organisations will need to understand the practicalities of gathering the necessary information.

He went on to point out the importance of reading the Act in preparation for the changes that lie ahead. The Act contains a number of linguistic and semantic changes compared to the current Public Contracts Regulations, with some material remaining, albeit with a difference in meaning. Contract award notices are one such example.

Quick wins

On the question of implementing more straightforward change, Emma talked about the importance of communication with all stakeholders. Procurement leads will need to be afforded elevated levels of engagement – to be given a seat at the top table.

Procurement teams will now need to have involvement throughout the life of the contract, including supplier management, procurement delivery, and contract management. To get everyone on board, Emma’s team at Metropolitan Thames Valley have been running contract and supplier management workshops since December 2023.

She went on to say that the new notices will require separating old and new spend – the spend from October 28 will need to be identified so that organisations can deliver against the new compliance obligations. In addition, the requirement of the contact termination notice will mean providing resultant contract value – the spend that has occurred within a contract. This necessitates a further change – Emma says she doesn’t currently report spend at contract level.

Education is key

Lorraine continued the conversations by confirming that education is key to success. With 6 councils to contend with, she realised that digital solutions would be needed. What’s more, this training had to be delivered within disparate departments – the new Act requires involvement from a number of professions, including finance leaders, lawyers, and data analysts.

While for Lorraine, the extra transparency measures will need special attention, she believes the new Act to be a positive move forward for UK procurement, bringing with it openness and accountability.

Her team realises that there is a fundamental weakness in the public sector in terms of contract management, which will need to change in preparation for the Act. They are currently carrying out a systems review to see how this can be carried out more efficiently and effectively.

The team has already made councils aware of the knowledge drops and e-learning packages that have been released by government, but there is an acknowledgment that that a comprehensive understanding will not happen overnight. Lorraine pointed out that procurement teams were not expected to ‘jump into this new world on October 28’ when the new Act comes into effect.

A Tough Transition?

Stuart went on to say that while there were a number of programmes available, including guidance on pipeline notices, value in contracts, and the definition of a contracting authority, there is still a lot more to come from central government.

The toughest part, he believes, will be transitioning from old contract management to the new way of working – this is especially true for those new to procurement. Which regime applies to which contract? Practitioners will have to be particular careful about making modifications to contracts, and which regime this will fall under.

By example, Stuart said he had spoken to a contracting authority who had a contract running until 2039 – a contract that began under the Public Contracts Regulations Act 2015, that will sit under the new legislation for a significant period of time.

A Central Approach

Mark continued the discussion by explaining that all information will be published on a central digital platform – a single source of truth for supplier information and contract details. This is to enable central government to interrogate and analyse public spending and drive improvements.

On the question of the role systems have in driving change, Emma said that no single system would be able to solve complex problems. Systems may make a poor process run quicker, but they will not be able to fix it wholesale.

In collaboration with OneAdvanced, Emma took part in a pioneer programme to create a bespoke solution for her organisation. The team created a bespoke system to comply with regulations, bring operational efficiencies and improve supplier management. The solution is designed to improve financial management, while delivering sustainability and social value – all on a single, central platform.

Staying Ahead

Mark concluded the webinar by expressing OneAdvanced’s ongoing commitment to its public sector partners. OneAdvanced software will remain up to date with the latest regulatory and compliance measures, with integration of transparency notices.

Supplier Management from OneAdvanced brings best-case supplier management practice, with modules for supplier relationship performance and KPI management. The system gives clear visibility on risk and supplier compliance, including insurances and certifications. Meanwhile, Contract Management serves strategic, capability-based contract outcomes, sitting as a layer on top of existing e-tendering systems.

Lorraine ended the webinar by suggesting the Act will bring great value, giving teeth to previous legislation. She acknowledged that public organisations could no longer ‘… just keep bolting systems together’ and that we should all grasp this opportunity to affect real change.

To watch the webinar in its entirety, please find it here on demand. You also won’t want to miss our whitepaper, The Procurement Act 2023: Navigating Change, giving you plenty of detail on preparing for the new rules.

For public sector employees, we’re holding one of the most important live events of the year – sign up for the OneAdvanced Government Summit 2024 or the OneAdvanced Housing Summit 2024 at 30 Euston Square, London on September 18/19. Attendance is free – register today.