The Minister for the Cabinet Office has this morning released a statement announcing that the Procurement Act 2023 will now come into force on 24 February 2025 and not on 28 October 2024 as originally planned.
This is to allow the new government to revisit and rewrite the National Procurement Policy Statement to which contracting authorities will need to have regard under the Act.
Given that we are still awaiting the publication of the final few elements of guidance (especially around the operation and readiness of the Central Digital Platform) and also that the government expects to be in a position to publish a range of helpful template documents plus a Procurement Pathway tool by the end of September, we think most authorities are likely to welcome the chance to digest these resources more fully than might have been the case under the original implementation plans.
However, those authorities who have been planning to commence new procurements under the Procurement Act 2023 on or after 28 October 2024 will now need to revisit and review their procurement strategy; given the delay to implementation, a procurement will remain regulated by the current regime if commenced prior to 24 February 2025.
If and when further detail is known on the new plans for implementation we will post about it here so do sign up for alerts if you would like to keep up to date. You could also come along to one of our in-person procurement law events in London (24 September) and Birmingham (3 October). You can read more and sign up here.