Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office (): One in every three pounds
of public money, over £300 billion a year, is spent on public
procurement. By improving the way public procurement is
regulated, the Government can save the taxpayer money and drive
benefits across every region of the country.
Following the UK’s exit from the EU, we now have an opportunity
to develop and implement a new procurement regime. The
Procurement Bill will help to deliver the Prime Minister’s
promise to grow the economy by creating a simpler and more
transparent system that will deliver better value for money,
reducing costs for business and the public sector.
The Government wants to make it easier for small businesses to
work with the public sector by ripping up unnecessary rules and
tackling late payment in the supply chain. We will ensure all
public bodies consider SMEs when designing their procurements.
Following wide-ranging public consultation and stakeholder
engagement, and close working with colleagues in the devolved
administrations, we have brought forward legislative proposals to
establish the new regime. These measures and the training we will
roll out to support them will deliver greater value for the
public purse, from huge infrastructure projects to services by
local councils.
In support of the Bill which last week completed 3rd Reading in
this place, I am launching a public consultation on the draft
implementing Regulations that will form part of the new regime.
This consultation, which is highly technical and not seeking
views on policy development, will be split into two parts with
the first part of the consultation remaining open until 28th
July. The first part of the consultation, announced today,
focuses on policy areas which require specific detail such a
calculation of thresholds, or lists of services or organisations,
in secondary legislation. The forthcoming second part will
address the transparency provisions and notices that will be used
by contracting authorities to fulfil their legal requirements
under the Bill. The second part will also include information on
the proposed approach to transitional arrangements for
procurements already underway at the time that the new regime
enters into force and the position on other legislation that will
need to be amended in order for the full provisions of the Bill
to take effect. I expect to launch the second part in July.
The consultation we are publishing today, and laying in
Parliament, gives everyone an opportunity to help shape public
procurement for the future and I wish to encourage all involved
in public procurement to have their say.
