How to prepare for the Procurement Act 2023

The Procurement Act 2023 is about to revolutionise the regulations that govern how the public sector spends money, and you can start getting prepared now.

What is the Procurement Act 2023?

The Procurement Act 2023 is bringing significant changes to the regulations that govern UK procurement. 

Each year the public sector spends around £300 billion on public procurement. This includes spend on:

  • goods: such as office equipment or hospital beds
  • works: the building and maintenance of roads, schools, and major infrastructure projects
  • services: adult social care, waste management, and technology services  

On 26 October 2023 the landmark Procurement Bill was granted Royal Assent and became the Procurement Act 2023. The Procurement Regulations 2024 were then laid in Parliament on 25 March 2024. This statutory instrument (SI), which is a form of secondary legislation, applies a broad range of powers within the Procurement Act 2023 and provides additional detail about various aspects of the new procurement regime. 

This all means the regulations that govern how that money is spent in the UK are about to change. 

The Cabinet Office is leading a readiness programme based on the incoming regulations called Transforming Public Procurement (TPP). To find more detailed information on how to prepare for the implementation of the regime, visit the Cabinet Office Transforming Public Procurement webpage.

What does the Procurement Act 2023 mean?

When the UK left the European Union in 2020, the government wanted to create a simpler, more flexible, commercial system that better meets our country’s needs while remaining compliant with our international obligations.

This has resulted in the development of the Procurement Act 2023, a new law that creates a new and improved set of regulations. 

The new law provides a number of benefits to suppliers and buyers, including:

  • cutting red tape and supporting innovation
  • improving transparency by creating a fully open and transparent system, meaning everyone has access to public procurement data
  • faster competition processes for emergency buying, allowing buyers to meet urgent needs quickly and efficiently
  • simplifying the process of working with the public sector, supporting more SMEs to bid for contracts 

When will the regulations change?

The Procurement Act 2023 has already been given Royal Assent, meaning it is a law. The secondary legislation was laid in March 2024. However, the changes to the procurement regime have not yet taken effect. 

In March 2024 the Procurement Regulations 2024 were laid in Parliament to bring some elements of the Bill and the wider regime into effect. This statutory instrument (SI), a form of secondary legislation, is available to view. 

It is currently anticipated that the new regulations will then take effect in full in February 2025. The Cabinet Office will issue notice of the ‘go-live’ date for the new regulations at least 6 months in advance. 

Remaining compliant with the right regulations

Once the Procurement Regulations 2024 have commenced, or are ‘live’, these new regulations will apply to all agreements created after that time. From then on, all activity carried out under new agreements must comply with it. 

However, the new regulations are not retroactive. The Public Contracts Regulations (PCR) 2015, which previously governed procurement activity in the UK, will continue to apply to any CCS agreements created prior to the ‘go live’ of the new regime. 

Suppliers and buyers who carry out contracts under existing agreements must ensure they remain compliant with PCR 2015, even after the new regulations come into force.  

This means that if a contract is awarded through any commercial agreement that was created before the Procurement Regulations 2024 come into force and is compliant under PCR 2015, that compliance will not change until the contract expires or is replaced. 

As a buyer, you will need to consider which contracts you have that will expire after the new regulations come in, and start to plan if and how you will reprocure those contracts as early as possible.

CCS has created an updated list of key commercial agreements that are anticipated to be awarded under the new regime.

How to prepare yourself as a public sector buyer

Review your business

It is important to prepare for the new regulations as early as possible. This will help ensure you are ready to start getting the most benefit from the changes when they take effect. 

CCS has broken the process of preparing for the new regulations down into 5 distinct workstreams that you can use to examine your organisation’s readiness and what you need to do:

  1. Commercial activity: review all current and planned commercial opportunities 
  2. Standard operating procedures and policies: ensure they are robust and future-proofed for the new regime  
  3. Guidance and information: review the documents that your teams and suppliers use and ensure they are current  
  4. Systems: consider the readiness of your organisation’s systems and what changes may be needed
  5. People: ensure your people understand Transforming Public Procurement and undertake the necessary training 

Early preparation and training is key

Have you ensured that your people are ready and prepared for the new regulations? 

The Cabinet Office is leading the TPP programme and has already launched its first official training product in the form of Transforming Public Procurement Knowledge Drops. 

These Knowledge Drops are aimed at anybody who interacts regularly with procurement. They provide a high-level overview of the changes the new regulations will bring, delivered through a series of short on-demand broadcast presentations, with different versions available for buyers and suppliers. A third adaptation of the Knowledge Drops, aimed specifically at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs), is also available. 

These can be rolled out immediately to those who need to understand the coming changes, so considering how to deliver these across your organisations can help you get on top of the transition more quickly.

More detailed and specific training options are available for buyers who require more than a general overview of the new regime. Visit the Cabinet Office Transforming Public Procurement webpage to find out more about these and to get new information and resources as they become available. 

How CCS can help you prepare for the new regulations

We are working closely with the Cabinet Office to understand the new regulations to ensure public sector organisations can take advantage of the benefits through our commercial agreements as soon as the new regulations come into effect.

We have already established a dedicated project team that will continuously implement our internal changes until the new regime goes live.

As an organisation we will:

  • manage and implement Transforming Public Procurement as a key project for CCS, with dedicated internal staff working on this full time
  • support buyers with implementing the new regime through thought leadership and guidance
  • provide guidance to buyers on how to use our products once the new regulations are live 

You can also download our full guide on preparing your organisation for TPP.

More: You can now find all of our Procurement Essentials articles in one place on our website. 

Changes to our agreements in March

Welcome to our monthly framework update to help you with your procurement planning. We will publish it online each month and also share it in our newsletters and on our social media channels.

The update provides a brief summary of what has been awarded, extended or expired during the previous month. It also outlines what is due to expire in the next 3 months.

You can also get an overview of all of our live frameworks in our interactive digital brochure.

Agreements awarded in March

No agreements were awarded this month.

Agreements extended in March

Agreements that expired in March

Agreements due to expire in the next 3 months

Further information

If you need further details about any of these agreements please get in touch.

You can also find out what new procurements we are working on by exploring our upcoming deals page.

If you don’t currently receive our monthly customer newsletter why not also subscribe to receive these updates and more directly to your inbox? Just fill in this short form.

How to build sustainability into procurement: staying on track for carbon net zero

NB: This article was originally published on 1 February 2023. All information was correct at the time of writing, but may not be fully applicable following the introduction of the Procurement Act 2023.

Building sustainability into your procurements is crucial in order to meet the 2050 net zero target set by Government. To get it right, you need to start thinking as early as possible about how to apply it to what you are buying.

What is sustainable procurement and why does it matter?

Sustainable procurement considers social, economic and environmental factors alongside the usual price and quality considerations when buying goods and services.

A sustainable procurement strategy reaches every corner of your commercial activities, from what and how you buy it to who you buy from and what happens after your contract is signed.

Some examples of sustainable procurement include:

  • purchasing electricity from renewable sources
  • purchasing refurbished IT hardware, or sending your existing equipment to be recycled/re-used at the end of your contract 
  • changing fleet vehicles to ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV) or electric vehicles (EV)
  • using low-carbon construction materials

As sustainability continues to grow in significance on the global agenda, it’s becoming increasingly important for public sector organisations to align their procurement strategy with the evolving values of stakeholders, customers and employees. 

Before you start any procurement, you should think carefully about whether the goods or services you’re going to buy, and the way you are going to buy them, will maximise sustainability benefits.

Why procure sustainably?

Sustainable procurement adds value to your organisation through improved reputation and future-proofing against compliance issues and supply chain risk. It can also decrease costs through, for example, reducing waste and energy consumption.

Not adopting sustainable procurement practices could have negative consequences. Your organisation could face reputational damage by using a supplier who is not adopting net zero practices. You may also face other consequences if, for example, you have failed to consider how what you propose to buy might improve economic, social, and environmental wellbeing as set out in the Social Value Act 2012.

The challenges

We know that building sustainability into your procurements and staying on track for net zero can be complex. It can be tempting to continue as you’ve always done before or when you are faced with other organisational challenges. Budget constraints can make up-front costs of energy efficiency upgrade projects seem higher –  yet they make savings during the life of the contract.

This is where we come in. The UK public sector, from local authorities, hospitals and schools to central government, emergency services and universities, spends more than £393 billion on procurement every year. With the right procurement solutions in place, your collective purchasing power can help drive down the cost of the transition to net zero, and deliver real change.

So, where is the best place to start? 

Early preparation and engagement is key 

What does ‘good’ look like when building sustainability factors into your procurements? What issues are most important and relevant to your organisation? You can’t start your sustainability journey unless you know where you are, and where you want to go. 

Start by consulting with your key stakeholders, supply market, and customer base, to reach a common understanding of what sustainability might look like for your contract and what matters most. Look into your organisation’s pain points, priorities and risks and create realistic goals to address these factors. 

You should consider sustainability as early as possible, ideally when your requirement is still in the pre-procurement / development phase. As the supply chain matures, understand what sustainable requirements you can specify up front- don’t just leave it to the quality evaluation. For example, many suppliers may be able to provide electric fleets and other sustainable modes of transport for deliveries – establish that at the start and sustainability is already baked in.

Make sure you’re being specific about the themes you’d like bidders to focus on. When outlining these themes, be clear about the sustainability outcomes that you want to achieve and the internal policies you want your suppliers to comply with. Read our article on ‘how to write a procurement specification’ for guidance on the specification drafting process.

For example, a local authority looking to build new social housing, may specify that the successful supplier will be required to use sustainable construction materials and include renewable energy for residents. They may also ask potential suppliers to explain how they would mitigate the environmental impact of construction, including reducing waste to landfill or using sustainable fuel for vehicles as part of their quality evaluation. They could then include KPI’s and metrics into the contract to measure the sustainable benefits that are realised.

Supplier compliance

How much background research have you carried out on potential suppliers?

Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 06/21: Taking account of Carbon Reduction Plans (CRP) in the procurement of major government contracts over £5 million, asks that suppliers confirm their commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 by calling on them to produce a CRP. CRP’s must set out the measures a supplier has adopted in line with the guidance, for example by including certification schemes or specific carbon reduction measures they have adopted in the PPN. The CRP must then be published on the supplier’s website.

Drawing up a CRP is fundamental to achieving net zero emissions. For this reason, you should take steps to ensure your supply base complies with the latest PPN to understand what your suppliers are doing to meet the government’s net zero target.

How to evaluate sustainability in your bids

We have discussed how to evaluate bids in another article in this series. The core principles are largely the same for any sustainability questions you have included.

Considering the whole life of your contract

To deliver true sustainability, you need to consider the whole life of your contract, not just the initial procurement activity. 

Have you considered the total cost of the contract, beyond the initial upfront cost? Many sustainable contracts might be slightly more expensive upfront than the traditional technologies, however may deliver significant savings during the life of the contract through energy efficiencies and waste reduction.

What will the repair and maintenance look like for the asset? Can it easily have new component parts sourced to extend its lifecycle?

Can you resell the asset after you’ve finished or is there a process for decommissioning or recycling the component parts? Try and consider how you can ensure as little waste to landfill after the fulfilment of your needs.

After award

Selecting your supplier is just the start of the journey. Think about any reporting requirements you need to build to ensure you can monitor the sustainability of your contracts. Also think about how you’re going to manage your contract and suppliers to ensure the sustainable benefits are realised. What gets measured, gets monitored!

And finally…

Implementing sustainable procurement is a complex process, and you need to prepare for the many steps it takes to get there. Learn to pinpoint and celebrate the minor changes and keep your larger goals in mind as you steadily move toward a sustainable future.

How to access grants and funding to support public sector net zero projects

We know funding net zero ambitions can be a barrier. Decarbonisation requires a significant investment in cleaner technologies. With budgets already stretched, meeting the high up-front costs of net zero projects, such as energy efficiency upgrades and solar PV panels, is an extra burden.  

Grant information is often scattered across multiple sites and in various formats. Many organisations lack the time and resources to find and apply for net zero grants. 

Our grants and funding web page brings all open CNZ grants and funding opportunities across the government into one place. This page simplifies the process by bringing everything together and identifies potential routes to market. CCS will regularly update the listings as new funding becomes available.

Supporting your net zero transition

At CCS we want to make it as easy as possible for you to decarbonise your procurement portfolio. We have identified a comprehensive range of commercial solutions in areas that can help accelerate the transition to net zero. Our sustainability team can provide guidance, solutions, and services to support your net-zero journey. 

Here are a few examples of how our solutions are being used to decarbonise the public sector:

  • low emission vehicles
  • greener energy solutions, including heat pumps and solar panels
  • construction projects using low-carbon materials
  • refurbishment and maintenance of buildings
  • energy efficient cloud storage
  • removing and reducing single-use plastics from public sector supply chains

No matter where you are on your net zero journey, we can help. To find out more visit our carbon net zero webpage.

You can now find all of our Procurement Essentials articles in one place on our website. 

Removal of ‘Carbon Reduction Plan’ label on our supplier search

Since its launch in 2021, the Carbon Reduction Plan (CRP) PPN 06/21 policy requirement introduced by Cabinet Office has been a great success, seeing over 2,500 CCS suppliers working towards their Carbon Reduction Plans’ compliance

As we review and update the functionality of the CCS website, and in order to preserve consistency and transparency between framework and supplier web search, we will be removing the Carbon Reduction Plan ‘green label’ from individual supplier entries.

This does not change the CRP policy or its implementation. All CCS suppliers approved for frameworks within the scope of the policy are still required to maintain, update and publish their CRPs on their own website.

Customers will continue to be able to view suppliers’ CRP compliance via the supplier’s record on the CCS website as part of their due diligence and this will ensure that the information available is fully up-to-date and consistent following CCS review. 

To check a supplier’s current CRP, open their search entry and follow the link marked ‘Read this supplier’s Carbon Reduction Plan’.

Changes to our agreements in February

Welcome to our monthly framework update to help you with your procurement planning. We will publish it online each month and also share it in our newsletters and on our social media channels.

The update provides a brief summary of what has been awarded, extended or expired during the previous month. It also outlines what is due to expire in the next 3 months.

You can also get an overview of our live frameworks in our interactive digital brochure.

Agreements awarded in February

  • no agreements were awarded in February 2024

Agreements extended in February

Agreements that expired in February

Agreements due to expire in the next 3 months

Further information

If you need further details about any of these agreements please get in touch.

You can also find out what new procurements we are working on by exploring our upcoming deals page.

If you don’t currently receive our monthly customer newsletter why not also subscribe to receive these updates and more directly to your inbox? Just fill in this short form.

Changes to our agreements in January

Welcome to our monthly framework update to help you with your procurement planning. We will publish it online each month and also share it in our newsletters and on our social media channels.

The update provides a brief summary of what has been awarded, extended or expired during the previous month. It also outlines what is due to expire in the next 3 months.

You can also get an overview of all of our live frameworks in our interactive digital brochure.

Agreements awarded in January

  • no agreements were awarded in January 2024

Agreements extended in January

Agreements that expired in January

Agreements due to expire in the next 3 months

Further information

If you need further details about any of these agreements please get in touch.

You can also find out what new procurements we are working on by exploring our upcoming deals page.

If you don’t currently receive our monthly customer newsletter why not also subscribe to receive these updates and more directly to your inbox? Just fill in this short form.

Prepare your organisation for Transforming Public Procurement

The Transforming Public Procurement (TPP) programme aims to improve public procurement regulation to save the taxpayer money and drive social, environmental and economic benefits across the UK. 

CCS has taken an organisation-wide approach to the implementation of TPP. We wanted to ensure CCS is ready to apply the new procurement rules immediately and our customers can be confident that CCS commercial agreements will continue to drive value, remain compliant, and provide the intended flexibility under the new regime.

Based on our approach and what we have learned so far, we have developed an implementation guidance document where you can find detailed information on our 5 workstream approach, including a checklist of considerations for each workstream. 

Download the guide.

Transforming contact centre services using outsourcing

The requirement

London Borough of Sutton Council, a local authority in South West London, sought to improve its out of hours contact centre service. They aimed to enhance customer service, obtain better information management, and reduce costs.

The solution

In 2022, the council decided to outsource its out of hours contact centre service through our Outsourced Contact Centre and Business Services (RM6181) agreement. Foundever, a specialist supplier on the agreement, was selected for their expertise and shared services model. The key components of the solution included improved customer service, enhanced information management, efficiency and cost savings.

Improved customer service

Foundever deployed a dedicated team of experienced contact centre staff to provide a high level of customer service. The team had access to resources like a customer relationship management (CRM) system and a knowledge base to efficiently address customer inquiries. With sensitive data handling requirements, London Borough of Sutton Council received added value from Foundever with the redesign of legacy processes and enhancing data security.

Enhanced information management

Foundever provided valuable data, including call volumes, customer satisfaction scores, and average handling times, enabling the council to identify areas for improvement.

Cost savings and efficiency

Outsourcing eliminated the need to employ and train in-house staff. The council benefitted from Foundever’s expertise and scalability to handle varying workloads effectively.

The results

This case study demonstrates the benefits of outsourcing to specialist providers, including improved service quality, cost savings, and the ability to focus on core priorities for local authorities. The commitment to partnership from the outset, going above and beyond the initial requirements is a testament to Foundever and the teams which manage and operate the service. Alex Marston, Deputy Head of Customer Experience at London Borough of Sutton Council said:

Foundever has provided us with an improved out of hours offering which has significantly increased answer rates, reduced average wait times and provided us with a much more robust and resilient service. I was impressed with how quickly the Foundever team was able to understand and deliver our business requirements for a complex service.

Add power to your procurement

To find out more about the services we have available to you:

Find out how our tail spend solution can enable broad efficiencies, reduce costs and improve social value for your organisation

Our Tail Spend Solution helps the public sector to better manage and aggregate ‘tail spend’ – often classified as low volume and low value products which organisations usually buy to meet a specific, short term need, such as stationery for schools. However, tail spend can also refer to misspending that presents risks and inefficiencies to government buyers. This can be categorised as: unusual spending, fragmented spending, maverick spending, and misclassified spending. 

It’s estimated that public sector tail spend on goods is currently in excess of £1 billion per year. There is widespread agreement across the sector that it is an under-managed and often overlooked area of spend that is increasingly important for organisations to deal with.

Tail spend – the challenges and the solution

By streamlining the entire process, from search through to payment, the tail spend solution helps to protect an organisation’s most valuable resource: the time of its team members. Our research demonstrates that organisations could expect to see up to a 38% reduction in time spent on purchasing by staff through using our agreement, through reduced invoicing and lower product search costs. This can consequently reduce transaction costs for organisations by up to 35% per transaction. 

Often, with tail spend, the main issue is the sheer amount of ad-hoc purchases made by many staff members, making it hard to track. This can cause a huge strain on budgets. Our research demonstrates how by procuring through the Tail Spend Solution agreement customers can set spend controls and user restrictions, which can reduce rogue or maverick spending – spending that falls outside of the organisation’s procurement guidelines – by almost 10%. 

Improving social value through tail spend

Managing tail spend can also be an effective way for public sector organisations to improve sustainable and local purchasing habits. For example, purchasing through the Tail Spend Solution can allow organisations to increase their purchasing of green products by up to 25% and also increase their spend with local buyers by up to 16% through the use of available spend controls, user restrictions and search filters. 

For example, since the integration of the Tail Spend Solution, the procurement function at the Home Office has made significant strides in improving social value and now boasts a robust understanding of its tail spend. The solution’s detailed reporting tool highlighted social value metrics such as; 40% of orders (circa £925,000) being delivered through SMEs (55 SMEs in total), and 10% of orders (circa £325,000) being delivered through local suppliers. Through the detailed reporting tool, the Home Office has also been able to evidence the aggregation of data and improve supplier and process efficiencies. For example, by only having only 1 supplier as their main point of contact across 3,833 orders, which would have previously been spread across 83 suppliers. 

Find out how you could improve efficiencies for your organisation through using our new tail spend benefits calculator

To demonstrate how public sector customers could potentially improve efficiencies, reduce costs and increase social value, through using our Tail Spend Solution we’ve introduced a new benefits calculator, tailored to the individual needs of organisations. 

The calculator will help schools, charities, the NHS and other public sector and third sector organisations identify how they can make potential savings on a broad range of non-safety critical products. 

Organisations will need to answer a few simple questions to get started, through an online platform, relating to their current annual number of purchases, suppliers used and volume of invoices processed.

Using the example of a medium sized local authority (250-4,999 employees), purchasing a range of product categories covering estates and facilities (2,000 purchase orders), the calculation could demonstrate how the organisation could expect to save over 8,400 hours in manpower and reduce costs by over £465,000 from managing these tail spend purchases through the Tail Spend Solution framework*.

Find out more

Access CCS’s new tail spend calculator.

To find out more about our Tail Spend Solution visit the agreement page.

*This example is based on a medium sized council placing 2,000 purchase orders and managing 2,000 invoices across 200 suppliers within their tail spend, per annum.

Crown Commercial Service publishes its updated SME action plan alongside a VCSE action plan

Alongside this, CCS has also published its voluntary, community and social enterprise sector (VCSE) action plan, which outlines how CCS will improve the awareness of VCSEs both within CCS and amongst our customers, with the aim of increasing VCSE presence on our agreements and reducing barriers to participation.

SME action plan

The SME action plan sets out CCS’s continued commitment to take positive action to ensure that the SME sector is well represented in our agreements. It reaffirms the organisation’s role in enabling customers to increase the proportion of their procurement spend that goes to SMEs.

The SME action plan also sets out how supporting the growth of the SME sector will generate opportunities to deliver greater social value through public procurement – helping the UK economy to grow.

Richard Denney, Director, Corporate Pillar said:

SMEs bring diversity and innovation to our supply chains, and levelling the playing field for businesses of all sizes will bring economic and social benefits as well as supporting the UK to grow the economy.

Our updated action plan sets out the work we’re doing to ensure we’re continuously creating those opportunities, supporting our customers to improve the value and outcomes delivered through their procurement.

The action plan sets out how CCS is simplifying public procurement processes to make it easier for a diverse range of suppliers to win government contracts, improving market engagement and access, and digitising aspects of the user journey to remove barriers to SME participation.

Public sector spending with SMEs through CCS frameworks increases

By February 2023, nearly 6 in 10 suppliers on CCS agreements were SMEs and 16% of direct spend through these agreements was with SMEs, though many also received ‘indirect’ spend, by acting as subcontractors to larger suppliers.

Direct spend with SMEs through CCS agreements rose by over £1 billion in 2022/23, compared to 2020/21, reaching £3.6 billion in total. The number of SME suppliers winning business through CCS agreements has almost doubled since 2018.

Additionally, the number of SMEs gaining revenue is also showing an upward trend over the past 5 years, increasing from about 800 in April 2018 to 1,500 in December 2022. However, this equates to only 25% of SME suppliers going on to win business meaning that there is still more to do across government to make sure that SMEs are awarded a greater share of the work.

Find out more

To find out more about how CCS is levelling the playing field for suppliers of all sizes, read our action plans or download our digital brochure.