Major change is coming to the way public sector organisations buy goods and services. And how the private sector, including small businesses can tender for contracts.
most central government departments and related bodies;
the wider public sector including local government and health authorities; and
utilities companies operating in the water, energy and transport sectors.
At c£300 billion, public procurement is the largest area of public spending each year.
The Bill is in its final stages - Government estimates that it will go live in October 2024. Once announced, there will be a six-month preparation period.
Four key areas of change
Speed up and simplify the procurement process and legislation.
Improve value for money.
Increase transparency and accountability to improve public benefit.
Benefits for SMEs through innovation, including a new digital infrastructure.
Take part in planned training for different stakeholder groups (launch date tbc)
Assurance on the readiness programme
Is there a project in flight/being scoped?
Who is accountable? Are the right people involved?
Are contract registers and details up to date?
What does key supplier engagement look like?
Assurance over current processes and procedures eg
How good is pre-market engagement?
Is supplier evaluation/assessment fit for purpose?
Is decision making appropriately recorded?
Assurance/Advisory to prepare for new data requirements
Is there data mapping for existing systems?
What work might need to be done pre-transition?
Consider benchmarking/evaluating your organisation against relevant commercial and procurement operating standards and other comparable organisations, in line with the National Procurement Policy Statement
Actions for internal audit – private sector If your organisation provides products or services to the public sector