Procurement Bill
Update on the New Procurement Bill
CIPS Webinar on the New Procurement Bill - took place in November 2022 hosted by the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), led by Biyageh Barry, CHIC Procurement Manager and facilitated by Anthony Collins Solicitors.
The session brought together over 100 procurement and supply chain professionals and legal experts on the same platform to discuss what’s new, where we are and what’s next in the new Procurement Bill. The event was geared towards enhancing better understanding of the new procurement rules that contracting authorities need to be aware of, to drive compliance and mitigate any potential legal and reputational risks.
The session covered a broad range of topics relating to the Bill, but the most relevant and interesting topics were updates on:
Procurement Objectives – All procurement above the threshold must be run in line with the following objectives. - Delivering value for money (maximizing the 3 Es – Economics, Effectiveness and Efficiency).- Maximizing public benefits (Social Value).- Transparency in sharing information with tenderers. (This remains ambiguous in terms of objective for procurement exercise – this is rather seen as a way of carrying out procurement to achieve the defined objectives)- Integrity – acting and being seen to act with integrity. (The same above)
Old Procurement Procedures include:- Open procedure- Restricted procedure- Competitive with negotiation procedure- Competitive dialogue- Direct Negotiation without advertisement based on grounds of extreme urgency – Reg 72.
This has now been narrowed to three procedures:
- Open Procedures – same as in the old regulation- Direct award – limited circumstance on currently- Competitive flexible procedures – This consolidates all the other procedures; restricted, competitive with negotiation, competitive dialogue, etc.
Award Criteria – changing from MEAT (Most economically advantageous tender) to MAT (Most advantageous tender).
The standstill period now reads 8 working days. No big difference, just to avoid the confusion of when the 10th day of the standstill falls on a weekend.
Frameworks – In addition to the usual closed framework, there will be an open framework. This can run for 8 years, with the opportunity for new suppliers to join at the mid-way point.
Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS), replaced by the Dynamic Market, will have the potential for direct award. There are as yet few details about how it is intended to operate, so watch out this space for more clarity.
Notices – The number of notices has increased under the New Procurement Bill, as summarized below:
What’s Next
- The Bill is currently in the House of Commons and has already had a second reading.
- It is due to take c.9 months to make its way through Parliament/Regulations in parallel.
- It is expected to receive Royal Assent in mid-2023.
- There will be a 6 month "Go Live" period allowing for learning & development, so we can expect hopefully ‘go live’ early 2024.
If you would like to know more, please get in touch with CHIC’s procurement team at tenders@chicltd.co.uk
