As of 24 February 2025, The Procurement Act 2023 will be enacted, bringing about changes to the way public bodies purchase goods and services.
This change will affect organisations including the NHS, government departments, schools and universities, police and fire brigades, and utility companies.
It is hoped that the new act will ‘improve and streamline the way procurement is done and benefit prospective suppliers of all sizes, particularly small businesses, start-ups and social enterprises’.
The intended benefits of this policy for suppliers include ‘more standardisation and streamlining of procurement processes’, as well as the requirement of better oversight of procurement decisions and strengthened payment terms.
A ‘central digital platform’ will be set up as ‘an enhancement to the existing Find a Tender service’ in an attempt to make it easier to find and bid for contracts. This is expected to lead to greater transparency and more flexibility.
To enforce this legislation, a new Procurement Review Unit (PRU) will be established to ‘enhance public sector procurement practice by ensuring adherence to the Procurement Act and safeguarding public procurement from suppliers deemed to pose risk’. The PRU will ‘maintain and build upon’ the existing Public Procurement Review Service (PPRS).
In addition to the PPRS, two new service will be launched in February under the umbrella of the PRU: a new Procurement Compliance Service (PCS) and a new Debarment Review Service (DRS). Further details of these services are expected to come when the new regime goes live.
Karen McNamara, UK & ROI business director for health and medical at hygiene and health company Essity, shared her views on how the introduction of The Procurement Act 2023 might impact the healthcare sector: “In 2025, our healthcare system will continue to face the triple threat of lengthy waiting lists, stretched budgets, and fast-approaching sustainability targets. Taking a value-based approach to procuring healthcare products is one area in which the sector can address these challenges while boosting patient care.”
She continued: “Traditionally, healthcare organisations have purchased high volumes of lower priced, lower quality or single-use products for treatments including wound care, compression and incontinence. By investing in lower quantities of high-quality products, organisations can limit reapplications and significantly reduce associated costs and waste.”
The Government Commercial Function, a cross-government network procuring or supporting the procurement of goods and services for the government, has advised that UK businesses familiarise themselves with the act and discuss the changes with regular customers and clients ahead of their implementation next month.
