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Working with us - guide for suppliers

Procurement Act 2023 and our suppliers

Are you ready for go-live on 24 February 2025?

The Procurement Act 2023 is the largest overhaul of procurement legislation in a generation and is mandatory for all public contracting authorities, including us. It aims to bring great benefits to both the public sector and suppliers, drive innovation, deliver better outcomes and embed transparency right through the commercial lifecycle, so everyone can access procurement data and see how public money is spent.

This represents a significant change to procurement, tendering and to contract management in the public sector. If you are a company that tenders for contracts, framework agreements or are part of a dynamic purchasing system then learning more about the new legislation is a must.

What is the new Act designed to do?

It's designed to:

  • Simplify the bidding process with a new central digital platform (enhanced Find a Tender service), so suppliers can register their details once for multiple bids across multiple contracting authorities
  • Increase supplier visibility, with the ability to see all tender opportunities in one place, including attendance at engagement events
  • Be easier to bid, negotiate and work in partnership with the public sector, including a new 'competitive flexible' procedure
  • Create more flexible commercial frameworks, to prevent prospective suppliers from being excluded for long periods of time
  • Help level the playing field for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs), by identifying and wherever possible, overcoming, particular barriers faced by these organisations throughout the procurement lifecycle
  • Strengthen provisions for prompt payments throughout the supply chain, enabling SMEs and VCSEs to benefit from 30-day payment terms on a broader range of public sector contracts
  • Improved transparency, with greater visibility about who is bidding for, and winning, larger public sector contracts (above £5 million) and the details of those contracts
  • Deliver a stronger exclusions framework which takes tougher action on under-performing suppliers

This is a pivotal time for anyone involved in public sector procurement. Understanding the changes can position you to take full advantage of the new processes which will apply to new procurement opportunities published on or after 24 February 2025.

This date was extended from the originally published date of 28 October 2024 for the Government to review the associated National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) prepared by the previous Government.

It's expected that the new NPPS will be published soon after the go-live date and we will be considering how this will affect the public procurement objectives.

Our Procurement Team is working with the Cabinet Office’s Transforming Public Procurement team, has undergone training, and developed new policies and processes to support implementation of the Act.

As a supplier, it's important that you prepare for this significant change, familiarise yourself with the Act and the changes you will need to make.

Suppliers will need to register as a current or potential supplier on the Government’s new central digital platform (enhanced Find a Tender service), which will be available from Monday 24 February 2025.

Existing CCHA suppliers will need to re-register on the Government's central digital platform from Monday 24 February 2025. It is anticipated that there will be a high demand on that day and soon after, but you can re-register at any point as long as it's before you bid for any new public contracts. Prospective suppliers can also register from the same date onwards.

The benefit of the central digital platform is that supplier profiles can be added once and shared across a number of public contracting authorities through provision of your unique API code.

Here is a short video explaining how to register. 

The Government's Transforming Public Procurement function has put together a short guide for suppliers which explains how the new Procurement Act makes it easier to bid and work in partnership with the public sector.  

You can also review the Government's information and guidance for suppliers pages. Here, you can view helpful videos and guidance documents, information on registering your organisation and updating supplier information, how to use the central digital platform (enhanced Find a Tender service), see further information on transparency commitments, and access 'knowledge drops' for suppliers and SMEs/VCSEs.

Sign Up For Updates

Suppliers are encouraged to sign up to regular updates on the Procurement Act implementation process on the GOV.UK website.

Click on the image below to sign up for regular updates.