Procurement in the Pre-Election Period - and the Procurement Act 2023
With the announcement of the General Election on 4th July, we are now in the “pre-election” period which has an impact on public procurement activities.
Guidance has just been published on the conduct of government business in the pre-election period, which may have implications for public procurement projects that are underway or in the pipeline.
Essential activities necessary to ensure the continued function of government and public services must continue. However, decisions on policy matters and/or large commercial contracts are expected to be postponed until after the election to allow for the possibility that any new government may wish to take a different approach (provided that such postponement would not be detrimental to the public interest nor wasteful of public money).
There have been questions in the public procurement sphere around whether the calling of the General Election on 4th July will have an impact on the government’s plan for the Procurement Act 2023 to come into force on 28 October 2024.
The Transforming Public Procurement team has confirmed that “The Procurement Act 2023 is already legislation, and you should continue to plan for the new regime to go live on 28 October 2024“ as well as stating that any updates it is able to provide will be provided to the usual mailing list (you can sign up here if you are not already registered).
The Procurement Regulations 2024 have now been made - you can access these here (and the Procurement Act 2023 itself, here).
Here in the procurement team at Mills & Reeve, we are continuing to provide resources to support the transition to the new regime – do join us on 5th June 2024 at 10am for our next 5 in 25 webinar when, together with my contentious procurement colleagues Claire Crawford and James Barry, we will be looking at challenges and remedies under the Act. You can sign up here – everyone receives a copy of the recording, slides and Q&A even if they are not free to attend on the day.