£300 billion is spent through public procurement annually. This money is spent on everything from hospital beds to office equipment to defence infrastructure. How public money is spent is changing with the introduction of the Procurement Bill 2022.
The Procurement Bill 2022 will cut 350 EU rules as well as changing four existing sets of UK regulations that will be replaced by a single regulatory framework. These four existing regulations include;
- Public Contracts Regulation 2015
- Utilities Contracts Regulation 2016
- Concession Contracts Regulations 2016
- Defence & Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011
The Bill sets out to simplify procurement to reduce bureaucracy and create a fairer, more open and competitive system that works better for both the buyer and supplier.
Green Paper & Transforming Public Procurement
The Bill follows on from December 2020 when the Cabinet Office set out proposals for change when they launched the Green Paper Consultation: Transforming Public Procurement.
Following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, HM Government has the opportunity to develop, implement and design new procurement regulations that move away from complex EU rules-based approaches that were intended for the single market. The Green Paper: Transforming Public Procurement requested feedback from stakeholders and considered comments and feedback received.
One Streamlined System
In the new system, the suppliers only have to give their core credentials once and in one place ensuring that suppliers of all sizes can bid for public sector contracts more easily. By improving this the Government hopes to save public money whilst boosting productivity, spread opportunities, improve public services and overarchingly empower communities by taking account of social value and support the governments Net Zero by 2050 Strategy.
The Bill will provide more flexibility to procurement professionals to use negotiate and design processes that benefit suppliers whilst providing freedom to discuss procurement opportunities with suppliers earlier and throughout the process. Discussing issues that arise and solutions that will deliver better procurement outcomes.
The implementation of the Bill is expected in 2023, once the Bill has been passed through both the House of Lords and Parliament, HM Government has said that there will be a six-month period before the Procurement Bill 2022 goes live to ensure everyone understands the legislation, build confidence amongst both buyers and suppliers and to give time to embed the changes in procurement functions.
The final draft of the Procurement Bill 2022 will most likely look different to the one published last week as there are several stages that the Bill has to pass through with additional comments and amendments likely to take place.
For now you can download the 122 page Procurement Bill 2022 PDF below.
