Procurement Bill
“Public sector procurement will be simplified to provide new
opportunities for small businesses.”
The purpose of the Bill is to:
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● Take advantage of the benefits of Brexit by reforming
the UK’s public procurement regime to create a simpler and
more transparent system that better meets the country’s
needs, rather than being based on transposed EU directives.
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● Boost business by making public procurement more
accessible for new entrants such as small businesses and
voluntary, charitable and social enterprises, enabling them
to compete for public contracts.
The main benefits of the Bill would be:
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● Taking back control of the rules that govern how
public money is spent and cutting red tape. Now that we no
longer have to abide by bureaucratic EU rules and
regulations, our intention is to create a simpler regime that
works better for the UK, reducing costs and improving
productivity. For example, by establishing a single digital
platform for supplier registration, businesses will only have
to submit their data once to qualify for any public sector
procurement.
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● Introducing new arrangements to buy at pace when
needed to protect life, health, or public order, so we can
easily replicate the great success of the Vaccine Taskforce
now we are outside the EU.
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● Giving public sector buyers more freedom and
flexibility by allowing them to better negotiate with
suppliers and to design the buying process to meet the needs
of their specific procurement.
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● Making it easier, especially for small and
medium-sized businesses, to bid for public sector contracts.
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● Enabling smaller contracts to be restricted to UK
suppliers, as permitted by World Trade Organization rules,
and ensuring that procurement activities aid jobs and
innovation.
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● Helping buyers to disqualify suppliers who are unfit
to bid for public contracts because of past misconduct,
corruption or poor performance.
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● Saving time for public bodies, as a result of new
streamlined procedures, meaning better commercial outcomes
that deliver greater value for money for taxpayers.
The main elements of the Bill are:
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● Enshrining in law the objectives of public
procurement including: delivering value for money, maximising
public benefit, treating suppliers equally and without
discrimination, and acting, and being seen to act, with
integrity.
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● Requiring buyers to have regard to the Government’s
strategic priorities for public procurement as set out in the
National Procurement Policy Statement.
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● Introducing new, clearer arrangements for how
contracting authorities can buy at pace if necessary to
protect life or health, public order or safety, with
strengthened safeguards for transparency.
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● Tackling unacceptable behaviour and poor performance
through new exclusion rules and giving buyers the tools they
need to properly take account of a bidder’s past performance.
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● Providing a number of sector-specific features where
necessary, including tailored rules to better suit defence
and security procurement in order to protect our national
interests.
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● Reforming the Single Source Contract Regulations to
ensure we continue to pay fair prices on single source
defence contracts while providing value for money.
Territorial extent and application
● The Bill will extend and apply to England, Wales and Northern
Ireland, with some provisions extending and applying across the
UK. The Scottish Government has decided not to implement these
reforms for devolved bodies in Scotland.
Key facts
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● Amounting to around £300 billion, public procurement
accounts for around a third of all public expenditure every
year. By improving the way public procurement is regulated,
the Government can not only save the taxpayer money but drive
social, environmental and economic benefits across every part
of the UK.
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● The new regime will also ensure compliance with our
international obligations including the World Trade
Organization Government Procurement Agreement, which gives
British businesses guaranteed access to £1.3 trillion in
public procurement opportunities overseas.
