Key takeaways
Understand when the new rules begin
Procurements before 24 February follow current regulations.
Start supplier conversations early
Clear communication helps avoid future tender issues.
Update internal processes and build staff awareness
Proactive training and policy reviews support compliance readiness.
The clock is now ticking on the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023, which will come into force on 24 February 2025.
Following our earlier releases this year that look at the legislation in detail, this article looks at how schools and trusts will purchase goods and services and, while we’ve covered before the key changes to look out for, there are a few steps your organisation can be taking now to get prepared and ensure your procurement processes are compliant with the new regime.
Save the date
The first thing to be clear on is when the changes will bite. Any procurement that is started before 24 February will fall under the old Public Contract Regulations 2015. Any beginning on 24 February or later will come under the new Act.
In this case, commencement means the publication of any notice (except in most cases for prior information notices or non-statutory pipeline notices.) For those cases where no notification or call for competition is required, e.g. direct awards using the negotiated procedure, the process commences when a supplier is contacted with the intention of entering into a contract.
Consider therefore your organisation’s pipeline, and make sure you know which rules will apply to any given procurement.
You may identify reasons to start earlier a matter you were considering delaying; for instance, you may wish to avoid the greater notification obligations and regulation that will apply over the life of any contract to be awarded under the new regime.
On the other hand, you might prefer to take advantage of the greater flexibility to be found, for example, in the new eight-year open framework model, and therefore opt to delay.
Talk to your partners
Do your suppliers know what’s coming? If your processes are about to change, they need to know — especially those suppliers who may be less familiar with the public sector and may therefore have missed this shake-up coming down the road.
We’ve seen in the past that it’s possible for a well-meaning public buyer of goods or services to be led off-course by the misguided confidence of a prospective supplier, regardless of whether that supplier’s confidence stems from naivety or bad faith.
However, it’s the school or trust’s obligation to get the tender process right, and errors can open up any award to challenge and the organisation to a legal claim: in short, a mistake can cost time, energy and money.
Training and compliance checks
Ensure your staff know what they need to. While our firm’s previous publications on the Act are a helpful starting point, this is a complex area of law that even experienced business managers can find daunting. We advise taking steps to familiarise with the forthcoming changes all those personnel within your organisation who have contact with its commercial operations.
Do reach out if your team would benefit from more bespoke training from our expert procurement solicitors, if you’d like us to run a compliance check on your existing or proposed processes or if you just have questions about the new changes.
Hill Dickinson’s Education services
We are always happy to advise education clients on their procurement work, whether helping you prepare documentation to take out to tender, or assisting with any ad hoc queries that may come up along the way.
As education specialists, we can help you navigate those parts of the regime that apply differently to schools.
Beyond procurement, we offer a full service to our education sector clients, whether you require advice on a transactional or commercial project, such as a school transfer, contract review, negotiation or settlement, or on day-to-day pupil, parent and staffing matters.
