The new Procurement Act came into force on the 24th February 2025, introducing a regime focused on delivering greater transparency and value for money in public sector procurement. We recommend all our clients to get expert legal advice on these legislative changes. In this article, we look at the rules for above threshold procurement processes and what they might mean for our clients.

Central Digital Platform (CDP)
Following the UK’s exit from the European Union, the Find a Tender Service (FTS) replaced the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) process, enabling contracting authorities to publish high value public sector contracts. An enhanced FTS, known as the Central Digital Platform, has been introduced under the new regime which requires suppliers to upload limited information to the portal including company accounts.

Market Engagement
Market engagement is permitted under the new Act, helping contracting authorities to tailor their procurement processes to their strategic goals. A Market Engagement Notice will need to be published before the tender goes live. If the contracting authority does not publish this notice, they must explain in their tender notice why this has not been done, as under the old regime, the purpose of market engagement should be to inform the procurement process.

Procurement Procedures
The new Act allows for three procurement procedures:

• The Open Procedure still exists and functions in much the same way it did under PCR 2015, however, stipulated time limits no longer exist and instead, contracting authorities are asked to set their own based on several factors outlined in S54 of the Act.
• The Competitive Flexible Procedure, which aims to provide contracting authorities with greater flexibility to design procurement procedures in a way that suits their objectives. This is likely to encompass some of the procurement procedures that existed under PCR 2015 while contracting authorities familiarise themselves with the new rules and consider alternative ways of running procurement.
• The Direct Award, as previously, is also available to contracting authorities, however, under the new rules, a Transparency Notice will have to be uploaded to the FTS to explain the rationale behind this. Whilst this was optional under PCR 2015, this is now a compulsory requirement.

Frameworks
The concept of Open Frameworks has been introduced, allowing contracting authorities to admit new suppliers during the lifetime of a Framework. For Open Frameworks with more than two suppliers, the Framework must be reopened within the first three years of its term and again within a five-year period. For Open Frameworks with less than one supplier, the Framework will need to expire after four years. Those with more than one supplier have an eight-year time limit.

Additionally, Dynamic Purchasing Systems are now called Dynamic Markets. They are still dynamic in that suppliers can be admitted at any point, however, the new rules have expanded what can be procured through them. There are now no limits on the type of procurement that can be run through a Dynamic Market.

Tender Assessment
Tenders will now be assessed on the basis of Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) as opposed to Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT). We are yet to see what sort of changes this might bring but it may encourage a greater focus on quality and social value.

Procurement Notices
To improve transparency in the sector, a number of new notices will need to be published under the Procurement Act 2023. These include:

• Transparency Notice: Where a contracting authority plans to direct award a contract, a Transparency Notice will need to be published. These exist under the old regime but were published on a voluntary basis – the new rules make this a compulsory requirement.
• Pipeline Notice: For any contracting authority with a spend of more than £100m, a Pipeline Notice will need to be published at the start of each financial year. This will need to include public contracts with an estimated value of more than £2m.
• Contractor Performance Notice: Contracting Authorities will now have to provide KPI data on suppliers working on a particular contract. This notice will also cover if a supplier has breached a public contract, resulting in a termination, or if the supplier is not performing on the contract.

Debarment List
A new Procurement Review Unit has been introduced with the goal of having greater oversight of contracting authorities and dealing with those who are not following the legislation. For those who consistently fail to follow the legislation, they will be added to a debarment list meaning they will be excluded from bidding for public contracts.

If you would like to discuss procurement in more detail, please contact us at ma@martinarnold.co.uk, where we would be happy to assist with your enquiry.