The proposed text of the government’s “once-in-a-generation” overhaul of public procurement was published on 11 May 2022. The Procurement Bill (Bill) sets out the government’s plans to create what it intends to be a simpler and more flexible system for public procurement and follows the government’s 2020 Green Paper on “Transforming Public Procurement” (Green Paper).
The Bill paves the way for significant reforms, including:
Reducing the number of regulated procurement procedures from seven to three
Consolidating all (or almost all) procurement rules into a single regulation
Changing the basis on which contracts are awarded, with more emphasis on social and other considerations
There is, therefore, a lot for contracting authorities and suppliers to consider before the new legislation comes into force in 2023.
In January, we reviewed the government’s response to the consultation on the Green Paper (Government Response) and identified 12 key areas of reform proposed by the government. In this update, we look again at those 12 areas and examine how they feature in the Bill.
