On February 24 2025, the Procurement Act 2023 came into force – shaking up the face of UK public procurement dramatically.
After a long trek through Parliament – starting in May 2022 and finally receiving Royal Assent in October 2023 – it took a further 15 months to confirm all the regulations and other provisions the Act put in place and give authorities and suppliers alike time to adjust and understand the new system.
But it’s here now! If you’re involved in social value, then the Procurement Act 2023 is a big deal. Here are ten essential points that every practitioner – contracting authority or supplier – needs to know.
NB This article predates the publication of PPN 026 in August 2026 which will supercede PPN 002 from January 2027.
1. The Procurement Act Replaces and Supersedes Prior Laws and Regulations
One of the principal drivers motivating the Procurement Act 2023 was the need to replace earlier procurement regulations based on EU Directives in the wake of Brexit.
Procurement law reform was also treated as an opportunity to simplify a system that had become complex, with four separate sets of regulations governing it:
- Public Contracts Regulations 2015
- Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016
- Concessions Contracts Regulations 2016
- Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011
The Act repealed these regulations and made provision for its own body of secondary legislation – the Procurement Regulations 2024 – to flesh out the necessary details not included on the face of the statute itself.
Since February 24 2025, the Procurement Act governs the majority of above-threshold procurements by contracting authorities in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland – with an important range of exemptions.
WHAT TO DO NOW: Inspect the Procurement Regulations 2024 and check out the list of exemptions
2. Open and “Competitive Flexible” Processes
The wide range of procedures allowed for under the previous system have been replaced with just two:
- An “Open” single-stage procedure, similar to the previous open procedure
- A “Competitive Flexible” multi-stage procedure, which gives authorities more leeway to design their own bespoke processes – potentially including stages for negotiation, dialogue, or demonstrations
One novel feature of the Competitive Flexible procedure is the scope for contracting authorities to amend the tender process or the award criteria after the receipt of initial bids, under certain conditions.
WHAT TO DO NOW: Read the guidance on the Competitive Flexible process, especially the transparency requirements
3. Procurement Review Unit
Implementation of the Act will be overseen by a new Procurement Review Unit (PRU). As well as ensuring that the new system takes root effectively, the PRU has two key functions:
- Investigating contracting authorities for compliance and making recommendations for improvement
- Investigating suppliers – with the possibility of adding them to the new Debarment List
WHAT TO DO NOW: If you have questions, you can contact the PRU here
4. Debarment List
A list of suppliers is to be created, with two categories of entry:
- “Excluded suppliers” – those from whom tenders must be ignored
- “Excludable suppliers” – those from whom tenders may be disregarded
Contracting authorities have the right to request information from bidders to ensure that no part of the contracts in question are due to be subcontracted to bodies on the list.
Grounds for debarment of a company or person include:
- National security
- “Improper conduct” – including failure to provide true or complete information, attempting to influence decision making, or accessing confidential information
WHAT TO DO NOW: You can review the latest Debarment List here
5. Devolved Authorities are in a Slightly Different Position
Public procurement is mostly a devolved matter for the Scotland and Wales and is a transferred for Northern Ireland. That means that the devolved administrations for those countries have powers to determine the rules that contracting authorities need to apply for certain processes.
In Scotland, for example, authorities with responsibilities for “reserved matters” are subject to the Act – but fully “devolved” authorities are not, and remain subject to the Scottish Procurement Regulations.
- Reserved matters – Areas of policy where the UK Parliament reserves the sole right to legislate. For example, immigration, national security, gambling, data protection, intellectual property, etc
- Devolved matters – Areas where responsibility has been devolved to the Scottish Parliament, including health, education, law, housing, etc
Devolved matters for Wales are specified in section 157A of the Government of Wales Act 2006; transferred matters for Northern Ireland in section 112.2 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998.
The Procurement Act also provides for the Welsh government to publish its own Wales Procurement Policy Statement.
WHAT TO DO NOW: If you’re working in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland, review the Scottish Procurement Regulations, the Procurement (Wales) Regulations, or the Northern Ireland Public Procurement Policy and associated PPNs.
6. Find A Tender, The Central Digital Platform
Find A Tender is being upgraded, to function as a central digital platform for procurement. One major change is the new, simplified registration system, which allows suppliers to store and manage core business data in a single location – making it more easily accessible to contracting authorities.
However, there is still no obligation to publish below-threshold tenders on Find A Tender. Below-threshold procurements make up around 70% of all tenders. These are still scattered across a range of several hundred different tender databases.
WHAT TO DO NOW: Search for new opportunities on Find A Tender
7. A Level Playing Field for SMEs and VCSEs
The Act features several provisions aimed at making it easier for SMEs and VCSEs to win public contracts:
- A duty on contracting authorities to remove obstacles to smaller organisations bidding – particularly to consider breaking contracts up into smaller lots (and explain decisions not to do so)
- A responsibility to adhere to 30-day payment terms throughout the public sector supply chain
Published just days before the Procurement Act came into force, the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) also obliges contracting authorities to set targets for spending with SMEs and VCSEs, and report annually against performance
WHAT TO DO NOW: Review your supply chain to benchmark how much you are currently spending with SMEs and VCSEs
8. MEAT to MAT
Although the term “social value” is conspicuous by its absence from the Act, one change above all others helps to cement its role at the heart of procurement: the requirement for authorities to award contracts to the “Most Advantageous Tender”, instead of the “Most Economically Advantageous Tender” (as stated in the 2015 Regulations).
This may not seem especially significant, but it implies that a much wider range of benefits should be taken into consideration than simply cost – which is how “Most Economically Advantageous Tender” has typically been interpreted.
WHAT TO DO NOW: Think more creatively about the kinds of “value” your bids could offer to contracting authorities, who now have more freedom of interpretation
9. Greater Scrutiny of Performance
Ensuring better value for money is one of the Act’s main objectives. To that end, it includes steps to promote improved contract management.
- Authorities will be required to publish KPIs for a wide range of contracts
- Suppliers will have to report publicly on performance against these KPIs – including, where relevant, social value KPIs
- Authorities will have to publish notices explaining the termination of contracts or the withdrawal of tenders before awarding a contract, with reasons
WHAT TO DO NOW: Upgrade your ability to configure and track social value KPIs by investing in the Thrive platform
10. 17 New PPNs
Along with the NPPS, just days before the Act was due to come into force the Cabinet Office published no less than 17 new Procurement Policy Notices (PPNs) that took effect at the same time.
PPN 002 and the new Social Value Model have attracted the most attention, naturally. But the other PPNs give new guidance on a wide range of procurement topics, including:
- Contracts with Russia and Belarus (PPN 007)
- The Armed Forces Covenant (PPN 008)
- Steel procurement (PPN 010)
- The Cyber Essentials scheme (PPN 014)
- Transparent use of AI in procurement (PPN 017)
WHAT TO DO NOW: Review the full range of new PPNs to ensure you are compliant with current best practice
At Thrive we specialise in helping companies track, measure and amplify their social value in line with the Social Value Model. If you want to discover how you can measure your social value more effectively and report to stakeholders quickly, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’d love to help you uncover more opportunities to showcase your impact.
Alan Boyce
Senior Researcher More articles by Alan >
