Procurement Act 2023

The Procurement Act 2023 (c. 54) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

The act seeks to overhaul public procurement law in the United Kingdom by simplifying processes and giving a greater share of public sector supply opportunities to small businesses. It is one of the most radical reforms affecting businesses since Brexit: the UK Government sees it as "throwing complicated and bureaucratic EU rules into the bin [and] stripping back red tape". The government held a consultation in 2023 on how to implement the act's provisions including by supplementary provision by regulations.

Parliamentary passage
The bill for the act was introduced to the House of Lords by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 11 May 2022 and had its third reading in the House of Commons, after being introduced by Jeremy Quin, on 13 June 2023. The act was significantly amended when travelling through Parliament and there was a stand-off with both Houses during the wash-up period leading up to the 2023 prorogation of Parliament about the final form of the act and whether organ harvesting should be included in the act. The act was finally agreed to on 25 October 2023 and received royal assent on 26 October 2023.

A proposal allowing for companies who engage in forced organ harvesting to be excluded from public procurement opportunities was added during the bill's passage through the House of Lords, but later withdrawn because the broader provisions on professional misconduct would already cover this issue.

Training
An "official learning and development offer for central government and the wider public sector" was launched in September 2023. The offer includes overview level training for suppliers as well as basic and advanced training for public sector procurement practitioners. The first tranche of overview training, referred to as "Knowledge Drops", was made available in December 2023. Other training on the act is available commercially.

The Procurement Regulations 2024
The Procurement Regulations 2024 made provision about the public procurement regime under the Act. It required transparency under the Act, by requiring significant amounts of information for contractors and other applicants seeking a contract.