Key Changes in Public Contracts: Procurement Act 2023 Overview
Learn about the significant changes between the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the new Procurement Act 2023. Discover the policy objectives driving the Act, changes in principles, objectives for contracting authorities, simplification efforts, flexibility enhancements, and more.
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Presentation Transcript
Key Changes Between The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the Procurement Act 2023
Why Did the Government Introduce the new Procurement Act Three policy objectives: Speed up and simplify the procurement process Place value for money at the heart of the process Create greater opportunities for small businesses and social enterprises to innovate public service delivery. To achieve that all existing regulations are consolidated into one Act and one accompanying set of Regulations (a one stop shop) Page 2 wardhadaway.com
Are the principles the same under the new Procurement Act? Not quite The old Regulation 18 principles have gone Instead, there are Objectives All contracting authorities must have regard to : Delivering value for money Maximising public benefit Sharing information for the purpose of allowing suppliers to understand an authority s procurement policies and decisions (transparency effectively) Acting and being seen to act with integrity The fact that SMEs may face barriers to participation and consider if those can be removed or reduced Page 3 wardhadaway.com
Other Objectives Contracting Authorities must : Treat supplies the same, unless a difference between suppliers justifies different treatment If an authority considers different treatment is justified, take all reasonable steps to ensure a supplier is not at an unfair advantage or disadvantage Page 4 wardhadaway.com
Simplification One stop shop Central Digital Platform (CDP) All notices, contract information, supplier information, etc will be held on the CDP Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) now becomes Most Advantageous Tender (MAT), so the focus is not just on monetary value Page 5 wardhadaway.com
Flexibility New Competitive Flexible Procedure New Open Frameworks New Dynamic Markets Formalising permitted Direct Awards Together with the Open Procedure and standard frameworks, these offer options and flexibility to authorities to help deliver VFM and to maximise public benefit Page 6 wardhadaway.com
Competitive Flexible Procedure A Contracting Authority can design its own procedure May limit the number of suppliers who can bid Can provide for refinement of award criteria Can exclude suppliers or reduce the number of suppliers at certain stages/in certain circumstances Can still use negotiation or dialogue, even though those terms are not used in the Act Page 7 wardhadaway.com
Open Frameworks Maximum of 8 years Really a series of frameworks that are re-procured or opened up during those 8 years. The initial framework cannot run for more than 3 years Must be opened up at least once in the next 5 years Each new framework must be on substantially the same terms Page 8 wardhadaway.com
Dynamic Markets Different from a dynamic purchasing system Can only be used for covered procurements and not below threshold procurements Suppliers can join at any time if they meet the membership criteria Cannot limit the number of suppliers Each procurement must use the Competitive Flexible Procedure, but supplies who are not members cannot submit tenders Page 9 wardhadaway.com
Direct Awards The old Regulation 32 (Use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication) has been replaced by direct award justifications Broadly the same EG can still direct award for production of a prototype for testing, research or development; or where competition is absent for technical reasons; or only one person holds the intellectual property; or it is for the creation of a unique artwork The urgency reason remains, but it must not have bene foreseeable and the urgency must not be attributable to the authority For repeat goods and services, a direct award is justified if the original contract was awarded within the previous 5 (previously it was 3 (years), but the intention to do so must have been included in the original Tender Notice Page 10 wardhadaway.com
Transparency Notices! Up to 8 notices possible for a below threshold procurement Up to 12 notices for a covered procurement Plus a Pipeline Notice for authorities who expect to award over 100m worth of contracts in a year Page 11 wardhadaway.com
Selection Questionnaire This has gone (sort of) Some of the information in the old SQ will now be held on the Central Digital Platform so will only be provided once on registration and then kept up-to-date. Includes basic information about the supplier name, address, etc), basic information about financial and economic standing, information about connected persons (e.g. persons with significant control ) and possible grounds for exclusion Any additional information required for a specific procurement will be request through a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) Page 12 wardhadaway.com
Thank you Ward Hadaway @WardHadaway wardhadaway.com
