The Procurement Act 2023 will provide a legal framework for all public sector procurement, replacing the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Since its passage in 2023, bidder organisations and contracting authorities alike have been hard at work preparing for the Act to come into force. We take a look at some of the changes to public sector bids and tenders as of today.
Introduction of the central digital platform
Find a Tender, the government website where all contracts over a certain value are advertised, is being overhauled. The central government is introducing a new central digital platform (CDP) where suppliers must register in order to bid for contracts.
The CDP aims to simplify the bidding process and make it easier for more organisations to tender for work, in addition to:
- Simple registration and identification for both suppliers and buyers, streamlining communication and sharing of information
- Storing key information from suppliers which can be repurposed across multiple submissions, eliminating some administrative and data entry tasks
- Facilitating fast management and updates of core information – see the section on the Procurement Specific Questionnaire below.
Registration was initially meant to open in late January, giving bidder organisations time to register in advance of the 24th February. However, this has been delayed, and the CDP has gone live today.
Implementation of the Procurement Specific Questionnaire
The Government Commercial Function also published a template version of the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) last month, alongside guidance for compliant submission.
Designed as a replacement for the current Standard Selection Questionnaire (SQ), the PSQ covers many of the same
- Core supplier information such as registered address, length of time spent trading, persons of significant control and membership with trade organisations
- Mandatory and discretionary exclusion information, listing connected persons or organisations (including subcontractor details) to satisfy the conditions of participation
- Narrative responses for professional and technical ability, including contract examples, data protection, health and safety and maintaining healthy supply chains.
The PSQ is linked closely to the new CDP, requiring suppliers to populate information held on the government’s new platform. Equally, contracting authorities can include additional narrative responses at their discretion within Section 3A of the PSQ.
Ultimately, the purpose of the PSQ is to streamline more administrative parts of the bidding process and reduce replication of information. However, in our initial analysis, we noted that usage is advisory rather than a statutory requirement, as was the case with the SQ under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Encouraging high-quality contract performance
In accordance with one of the Procurement Act’s central tenets of ‘delivering value for money’ in public procurement, the Act has given greater scope for identifying and scrutinising underperforming suppliers. This includes:
- Creation of a public debarment list, where a formal investigation has determined a supplier has met the criteria for exclusion from future tenders
- A requirement to set and publish KPIs and supplier performance for all contracts with a value exceeding £5 million per annum.
Planned procurement activity and establishing bid pipelines has also been given a focus, with Sections 15–18 of the Act incorporating guidance around engaging and involving suppliers and contracting authorities prior to tenders being issued. Some examples of this include:
- Issuing ‘planned procurement notices’ at least 40 days but no more than 12 months before the tender is scheduled to be released, replacing the current Prior Information Notice (PIN)
- Encouraging market engagements to develop and refine the tender procedure, give a forum for feedback from prospective suppliers and build capacity amongst locally based SMEs
- A duty to consider lots within a contract if the tendered goods, works or services cannot reasonably be delivered by a single provider – for example, due to geographic coverage, or works covering a broad swathe of industries.
The above has been established with the objective of facilitating supplier understanding of the contract, in addition to increasing the quality of bid submissions.
Updated tender procedures
The Procurement Act 2023 introduces the new ‘competitive flexible’ procedure, which gives contracting authorities greater flexibility to design the tender process to be more fit for purpose.
Buyers are permitted to limit the number of tenderers at each stage of the procedure – much like the current ‘closed’ procedure – in addition to refining or amending the award criteria.
Equally, the introduction of dynamic markets will join framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems as more flexible forms of procurement. Dynamic markets will allow bidders to ‘pre-qualify’ for contract opportunities, but may encompass several industries or sectors.
For example, an organisation delivering multi-trade works may only have to complete a single application to become an approved supplier for a particular authority – rather than complete several tenders for each industry, sector or discipline.
Continuously monitoring changes from the Procurement Act
We support organisations with submitting over 700 bids each year, and the changes introduced by the Act will understandably impact day-to-day operations.
We will continue to monitor how the Procurement Act impacts bid and tender submissions, in addition to providing consultative advice and guidance to clients across the bid and tender services we provide.
To discuss how we can support you with a tender, contact us today at info@executivecompass.co.uk.