Win more Contracts - Public Procurement 2026 - 4th Feb 2026

 First open course of the year on Wednesday.  That one is full but we shall be running it again on April 26th 2026.

Full details are here.

Understanding and Implementing the Procurement Act 2023 - 4th June 2025

 

I am delighted to be starting a new series of courses with GovPD, starting 4th June 2025 with Understanding and Implementing the Procurement Act 2023.

The course is online and (as usual with me) will have lots of opportunity for delegates to interact and ask questions.  

This first running is just about sold out but we are going to be running it more times in 2025/6, with the next date on 5th August 2025.

Full details of the course are here.  Hope to see you there.

Delivering Against the new NPPS - 27TH March 2025

 Well the new National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) is here.

And 3/5ths of it seem pretty simple to reconcile with procurement.  The other 2/5?

Well that is why you need to come along to PASS Procurement's course on Delivering Against the new NPPS = 27th March 2025 online.  Full details here.

hope to see you there.

More Procurement Act 2023

 More guidance on the Procurement Act 2023 (as of 25/11/24).

On the plus side, it starts to look likely that the go-live date of 24th February 2025 will be met.

On the negative side, everyone will have to re-register.

The new guidance is on SMEs, the CDP (Central Digital Platform) and (not very detailed) information for suppliers.

Full details are here.

Procurement Act 2023 - the new Central Digital Platform

 A little bit more information from the government about the new Central Digital Platform coming in with the Procurement Act 2023 from 24th February 2025.

It confirms that the CDP will be built on the existing Find a Tender Service (FTS) platform.  We were expecting (hoping?) that this would mean that existing registrations would just be ported over into the new system.

Sadly, the new information clarifies (see below) that this is not going to be the case and that Buyers and Sellers will need to re-register.  Buyers should be able to register from end of January, and Sellers after that (sellers don't actually need to be registered until there are tenders to bid for - so after 24th Feb - but I am sure many people will want to get ahead of the game).

My friends at Delta e-sourcing (part of BIP Solutions) have shown that their systems are ready for the go-live and to fit into the new system.

I am presenting at The Procurement Act Live on 27th Feb 2025 at the NEC, so that will be a great opportunity for people to see what is going on and ask questions (to the Cabinet Office rather than just me!)

Here is the relevant text:

If I am already registered on Find a Tender, will I need to re-register?

Yes, you will need to re-register and enter your organisation information. We will provide comprehensive guidance to help you do this closer to 24 February 2025.

Full details are here.

The Procurement Act Live - NEC - 27th February 2025

 The Procurement Act has been delayed from October 2024 to 24th February 2025 - and just 3 days later we shall be running a live event at the NEC discussing the PA2023 and how well it is going.

Well, maybe how well it is going to go...

I shall be running a handful of short sessions, and be around on the day.  I will also be hoping to learn from the panolpy of other presenters.

Did I mention that it is free if you are public sector or VCSE?

Hope to see you there.

Full details (which are still developing) are here.

The Procurement Act 2023 and the election

 The good news is that an election on 4th July is well away from the confirmed go-live date of 28th October 2024 for the Procurement Act 2023.

So no complications, such as there might have been if the election was in October or November. (though Cabinet Office assured us that it would not be a problem and the legislation seems to have cross-party support).

Meanwhile there is increasing amounts of information about the Act being published by the Cabinet Office - which I am trying to keep up with.  The good news is that it seems pretty good stuff at the moment.  The bad news is that there are always going to be particular issues that need more clarity, or are not currently clear.

But with 5 months to go I think we have lots to work on.

The Procurement Act Expo, Tuesday 12th March 2024, Birmingham NEC

 I am going to this event as a delegate rather than as a presenter - that is how valuable and useful I think it is going to be.

Jointly presented by the Cabinet Office and BIP Solutions.

Hope to see you there.

Full details are here.

Westminster Business Forum: Next steps for Public Procurement Policy 26th April 2024

 I am pleased to one of the contributors to the Westminster Business Forum event on 26th April 2024, looking at the next steps in Public Procurement.

I know that we have not even introduced the Procurement Act yet, but that is the time to think not only about what that is going to mean, but also about the future changes that are inevitably going to follow.

Luckily for you all, I shall only have a small role.  The event is online so no need to travel.

Full details are here.

BIP - DPRTE - The Procurement Act 2023 for Defence Suppliers - 1st February 2024

I was a late substitute called off the bench to moderate this webinar, which will go out on Thursday 1st February 2024.

The Procurement Act 2023 has big implications for all public sector bodies, but for the defence industry there is a really big change as their standalone DSPCR 2011 is combined with other procurement processes.

We have two experts from MOD to talk through the changes, and (as it says) what it means for Defence Suppliers.  I'm just your genial host.

I found the session really interesting, and Alex and Ben have been intimately involved in the legislation and now in the role out - so they know what they are talking about.  

There is a slide pack to go along with the webinar, which will be less than an hour (currently in editing).

Hope you enjoy it.  Joining instructions are here or here (which my system thinks is a dodgy site, but isnt. Honest)

Public Sector: Banning failed suppliers

 As a result of the Fujitsu/Horizon/Post Office scandal coming to wider public attention there have been a lot of questions about why the government has not banned them from future contracts.  Some people have alleged all sorts of reasons included stating that it was not possible to ban them.

The reality is a bit more complex.  Firstly, the contract would have been awarded under the regulations in place in 1999, and to be honest I am not sure what they would allow in terms of banning suppliers.

Secondly, until now despite the clear and obvious problems that have been known for 25 years, at no point has the contract with Fujitsu  been terminated, nor as far as I am aware have damages been sought.  The principle up until now has been that the IT system was perfect, and the post masters were the ones in the wrong - a principle that was wrong from the start.  (David Allen Green has a good blog discussion of this).  So, as far as the government was concerned there was no grounds for banning Fujitsu because they had done nothing wrong (I know - not the reality).

Next, it is very likely that time had run out on both warrantees and the rights to claim damages for non-performance (and remember, until now as far as the Post Office and government were concerned there was no non-performance to challenge - they blamed the Post Masters).

So, what other avenues are there.  Well in the Public Contract Regulations 2015 there are provisions for Discretionary Exclusions of companies who fail significantly in a material element of a relevant contract - fuller details are in these PPNs here and here.

The relevant text is :"In particular, an economic operator (i.e. company) may be excluded if it has shown significant or persistent deficiencies in the performance of a substantive requirement under a prior public contract, a prior contract with a contracting entity or a prior concession contract which led to early termination of that prior contract, damages or other comparable sanctions."

But remember again, until now the contract was NOT seen to have significant of persistent deficiencies.  Difficult to believe when Computer Weekly first raised it in 2009 (and have stuck at the story to their credit).

But IF the contract were terminated and/or damages sought then Fujitsu COULD be barred from bidding for futures similar contracts at the Selection Questionnaire stage.

The new Procurement Act 2023, which starts in October 2024 looks to give the government more powers (which of course they have to choose to utilise).  Under the PA2023 the government not only has similar powers to exclude failing suppliers from the bidding process, but also the ability to debar suppliers for a period of 5 years if so authorised by a Minister of the Crown (and after representations from the supplier).  Lots of legal discussion of this - here is one.

Sounds like a step in the right direction to me, though there is some concern this is a lack of clarity , and it will be a brave Minister who is the first to invoke it. 

(Incidentally there is a growing trend for government communications about such matters to be written as party political publicity, which is both annoying and worrying.  It is the same path previously reputable newspapers went down when they became unable to separate truth and opinion. It damages our democracy).

Anyway, the key point is that Fujitsu were not made liable for their failings and consequently it is rather difficult to see how they can be punished.  They could voluntarily step away from UK government contracts for a while (though a recent conversation with a delegate suggests they are not doing so) as one consultancy did after they upset Prime Minister Theresa May through a leak.  I am decidedly against that - it is corruption to step away from contracts to curry favour with politicians.  Much better for us to properly manage our contracts, be brave enough to admit when they are not working, and use the powers the regulations are (belatedly) granting.

BIP Solutions - Preparing Perfect Tenders 27th February 2024

 We've swapped a couple of events round, and I shall now be presenting Preparing Perfect Tenders online on Tuesday 27th February 2024.

This is one of our events tailored for suppliers to the public sector, and will of course talk about the new Procurement Act 2023 as well as tried and tested ways to make your bids and proposals stand out.

Full details here (the date might still say 7th March, but it WILL be on 27th Feb - we've just agreed)

BIP Solutions - Delivering Effective Market Engagement - 15th February 2024 online

 One of the things about the new Procurement Act 2023 is that it is explicitly opening the door to more engagement with the supply base and market.  Now there was nothing strictly stopping buyers from doing that under the PCR 2015, but in practice Public Sector Buyers were very worried about the risk of challenge for distorting competition.

Well the government is recognising that suppliers have useful insights, and encouraging buyers to discuss procurements with them - but obviously not in a way that does actual distort competition.  And of course, if you are in Sales that is precisely your intention in engaging with potential customers.

But with some forethought this should be a useful capability.

So we are running a seminar to share what we see as best practice, and hope that delegates will share their thoughts and concerns too.

Full details are here.

Understanding The Procurement Act 2023

As mentioned in other posts, there is going to be a lot of activity in 2024 around the new Procurement Act 2023.

And I'm going to be part of it.

As well as my PAWA Consulting programmes, I am delighted to work with BIP Solutions on a range of events building on our Understanding the Procurement Act Roadshows.

I shall be kicking off with Understanding the Procurement Act for Buyers online on Tuesday 6th February 2024.

My colleague Gemma Waring will be running it on April 17th.

We shall also be running events focusing on what it means for Suppliers (cunningly entitled Understanding the Procurement Act for Suppliers - 30th January and 4th April 2024, both run by Gemma).

We hope you can make it, and hope it will answer your questions.

Fuller details will be available here.

 

Happy New Year 2024

 Well it is going to be an interesting year - with elections in the UK and USA (and many other countries too).

The global and European economies are far from strong, though the USA seems to be doing just fine.

So, and interesting time for procurement - and especially for Public Procurement in the UK as the Procurement Act 2023 comes into force in October 2024.  I shall be doing a lot of events around that, so please do keep an eye out and come along.

All the best to everyone.

As John Lennon said, let's hope it is a good one.