Following its recent consultation on the reform to the UK’s public procurement regime, the Government has now published its eagerly awaited new Procurement Bill. A copy of this can be found here.
It runs to 122 pages in total and it will take some time to review the finer detail to determine what is new, what has changed and what remains the same as under the current regulations.
On first glance it would appear that the Bill broadly reflects the proposals the Government outlined in its Green Paper on transforming public procurement, and its subsequent response to the consultation.
The Bill will now pass through the various stages of parliamentary scrutiny before it becomes law, with the second reading of it due in the House of Lords on 25th May. The Bill may be subject to amendment as it makes its way through Parliament, so the final version of it may differ in a number of respects. The expectation is that there will be a period of 9 months to the Bill receiving Royal Assent. The Cabinet Office has then promised a 6 month implementation period. So that suggests that the new Bill will be applied to new procurements from around August 2023. We are also expecting, in tandem with the progress of the Bill, the Government to produce secondary legislation and guidance in relation to the Bill.
We will be providing further, more detailed updates on the Bill once we have fully digested the content.
For more information, please contact Kris Kelliher.
