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A New Year, New Rules: Progress of the Procurement Bill, a call for evidence, and an update on the Provider Selection Regime

A New Year, New Rules: Progress of the Procurement Bill, a call for evidence, and an update on the Provider Selection Regime

Procurement Bill

The Procurement Bill is continuing its progression through Parliament, with its second reading having taken place in the House of Commons on 9 January 2023.

The aim of the Procurement Bill is to repeal the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 together with several other procurement related pieces of legislation which all have their origins under European law and to replace these with a single regime governing the award of contracts by public authorities and utilities.

We will be covering the detail of the new proposals in more detail in further updates. In the meantime, the House of Commons Public Bill Committee has issued a call for evidence on the new regime for anyone with relevant expertise and experience or a special interest in the Procurement Bill and you can provide your views here. 

Provider Selection Regime

Before Christmas, NHS England confirmed via its website that the Provider Selection Regime (widely known as the PSR), the hotly anticipated new regime for the procurement of healthcare contracts, would not be in place for its next contracting round and is not expected to be in use by 1 April 2023. Further information from NHS England is available here.

We will be providing further updates on the PSR as and when further guidance is received regarding its implementation. In the meantime, all commissioners of healthcare services including NHS and Local Authorities will need to continue to follow the current regime laid down in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and the NHS (Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No 2) Regulations 2013.

Take a look at our previous updates on the PSR and the detail of the proposals. 

Health and social care

With a team of over 250 lawyers, we are one of the leading firms providing legal advice and support to national and international healthcare and life sciences organisations.

From NHS bodies to private providers and practitioners to insurance practices, our multi-disciplinary legal expertise covers the full spectrum of healthcare law including, litigation, commercial, regulatory, employment, investigations and inquests, real estate and disciplinary law. As a full-service international law firm, we take a scalable approach to service delivery, providing immediate access to high-quality legal advice across the full spectrum.

We are committed to working in partnership with our clients, fostering philosophies that are mutually beneficial. Our expertise and experience mean that we understand the issues you face and the clear and practical advice that you require, especially as services and systems become more integrated. We can help you manage risk and obtain better value for money enabling you to improve services and outcomes.

You can also access our webinar resources that are designed specifically for our health clients - covering topics that may affect you.