Action Sustainability - Assessing the Procurement Act 2023

 We had a very interesting online conference yesterday, hosted by Action Sustainability.  It had quite a Welsh flavour with the speakers being Robert Vaughn of the Department of Transport, Carl Thomas of the Welsh government and Diane Brooks of Lyreco Wales.  I was the warm up act, doing PA2023 in 20 minutes (never mind the 630 pages of guidance, eh?  20 mins?  Sure I didnt miss TOO much out...)

Action Sustainability will be making a recording available at some point (as I said, I'm on first so you can skip to the 30 minute mark to hear the real practitioners talking).

There was a strong focus on SMEs during the presentations, which is a favourite topic of mine.

We had some good questions from the 600 attendees (well not all of them).

One made the very good point that the designation SME covers a broad range of businesses, and that a company with 230 employees is a very very different entity to one with 23, (or particularly 2 or 3).  I have some hopes that the flexibility in the PA2023 for the lowest value contracts (below £30k or £12k inc VAT, depending on the contracting body) will allow Contracting Authorities to tap into the pool of Small and Micro businesses.  But of course that is not guaranteed.

Another point was about ethics, and as we had delegates from all four nations it is probably useful to point out that as well as the national Procurement Review Unit, there is Wales PRU, a Scottish Single point of enquiry, and Northern Ireland Construction & Procurement delivery teams covering devolved procurements.  

One delegate was concerned about ethical breaches in the construction industry, which of course had a significant Cartel case in the 2000s.  Their point was that offenders aren't seen as suffering the consequences, and of course the consequences are being beefed up in the PA2023.  Another delegate pointed out that whistleblowers in the industry are at risk of blacklisting, which of course is not legal but may still occur.  They were asking if the PRU would protect whistleblowers.  There is government guidance on whistleblowing here.  It is not clear to me if referrals to the PRU can be anonymous, but I'll try and check.

And finally of course we reminded everyone about the new consultation about potential changes - https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/public-procurement-growing-british-industry-jobs-and-skills-consultation-on-further-reforms-to-public-procurement

Deadline 5th September 2025.

Assessing the Procurement Act 2023 - 24th July 2025 - Free conference

 

I am delighted to be contributing to an online conference on the Procurement Act 2023 on Thursday 24th July 2025.

It is being organised by the Supply Chain Sustainability School, delivered by Action Sustainability.

I am doing a brief into the PA2023, before we have 3 expert presentations.  Then there will be questions to the panel.

Even better (for you) it is free to attend.

Full sign up details are here.

I'm pleased to say that we already have a considerable audience signed up.  Hope to see  there.

Happy Procurement Act 2025 Go-Live Day

 Happy Procurement Act 2025 Go-Live Day to all those who celebrate....  on Monday 24th February 2025.

Supplier registrations on the new Central Digital Platform go live now (Monday) though I think I might leave it a day or two to avoid the rush.

You might even wait until after you have visited The Procurement Act Live at the NEC on Thursday 27th Feb 2025 - where I shall be presenting 5 short seminars but more importantly there will be speakers from Cabinet Office and loads of stalls, stands and seminars.

Details are here

Hope to see you there

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.

The Procurement Bill 2024

 

I am delighted to be announce that I shall be working with my colleagues at BIPSolutions to run a series of Roadshows about the Procurement Bill that is currently undergoing review in Parliament.  This will replace the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 that we have all been working under for almost a decade.

The plan is to have Royal Assent next year, and then have a six month period to allow everyone to understand the new rules before it goes live.  So, a year from new we should have a new public procurement regime.

If you are either a Public Sector buyer, or a supplier to the public sector then these changes are going to have an impact on you.

We are running a series of roadshows around England, firstly focusing on Buyers and then a follow up series focused on the implications for suppliers.  

The Buyer events are going start in Newcastle on Tuesday 3rd October, and then move on to Norwich on 10th October and Liverpool on 12th October with my as the host.  My colleague Gemma Waring will be hosting the events in Sheffield (19th Oct), Nottingham (31st Nov), Birmingham (7th Nov) and Bristol (21st Nov).

The supplier dates will be in November in Manchester and London (dates should be released early in October).

We have a range of great guest speakers to help talk through the Bill, and will have a panel discussion where we can address any other public procurement topics.  Questions will be welcome at the end of all sessions.

Fuller details including booking are at the link here.

Hope to see you there.

25 years of PAWA Consulting

 Well to be accurate, 25 years and one month.  But things have been so busy that it is only now we are in August that I have time to write about it.

As I said in a very early newsletter (remember them?) "what a long strange trip its been" (quoting the Grateful Dead).  And it has been strange and fun.  And I am still here - though I have had various colleagues along the way.

Looks like 2023 is going to be the busiest year for training that I have ever had, and so I have decided to mostly draw the line under consultancy (unless something particularly piques my interest).

I have some news about returning to an old client later in the year, which means a range of new open courses on public procurement and related topics.  Meanwhile I am running further in-house programmes, and working as usual for a range of partner organisations running open and in-house programmes.

I've been only in the UK since Covid, but hope to be travelling to deliver courses from next year (2024).

In the meantime I have been running some courses on international time.  Which is fine for Europe, the Middle East and USA.  I am feeling a little bit more apprehensive about doing one on Japanese time in October!  Better to get back to doing these face to face I think. And as a sign that is possible I am being Master of Ceremonies at some UK conferences in the autumn.

Hope to see you at an event in the future.

(technically 23 years of PAWA Consulting Ltd, but 25 years of PAWA Consulting).

Procurex North - Manchester 24th April 2018

Tomorrow is Procurex North in Manchester at Manchester Central (which is part of the G-Mex complex).  Free to people working in the public sector.  Details here.

In the afternoon I am talking in the Winning Tenders Zone - so you can adapt your plans accordingly (listen or avoid).

There are a lot of good speakers during the day - especially in the Keynote Arena.  

Hope to see you there.

Procurex South - now onto Procurex North in Manchester 24th April 2018

Had a really good time at Procurex South.  Thanks to Twitter posters for the photos. Lots of questions from delegates, which I hope I managed to answer.  Good buzz around the place.  Got to get away from the stand to hear very interesting bit from Professor Sue Arrowsmith on Public Procurement implications of Brexit.  Her paper for the European Parliament last year is still the state of the art.  Current situation is wait and see but don't expect major changes in the near future.

And so onto Procurex North in Manchester on 24th April 2018 - full details here.  I am again running the Winning Tenders training zone.  Hopefully with new insights, or at least new jokes.

Hope to see you there.

Procurex South 15th March 2018 - London Olympia

So, this is only a week away and I am looking forward to this.  My sessions are in the Winning Tenders Training Zone in the afternoon, so I hope to get to see some of the keynote speakers in the morning, in particular Professor Sue Arrowsmith who will be talking about Brexit and Public Procurement, and Malcolm Harrison who is currently CEO of the Crown Commercial Service, but in the summer will take over the role of CEO of CIPS.  And of course the brilliant Eddie Regan.

That's pretty top notch stuff.  Well, maybe not me.

Procurex South 15th March 2018 - London Olympia

I should be presenting at BIP Solutions Procurex South next year, as well as some of their other events.  Always good events, and a good venue too.  Hope to see you there.

p4H Birmingham 12th July 2017

I'm delighted to say that I am speaking at P4H this week.  Once again looking after the Supplier's Training zone.

Hope to see you there.

Procurex Scotland 9th November 2016, SECC Glasgow

I've just had a great time at LGPE at Olympia in London with BIP Solutions - see above.  Their next event is Procurex Scotland next week.  I can't be there because I shall be running the Introduction to Public Sector Procurement for CIPS in Greenwich, but it should be a great event. 

If you are in public sector procurement, you should get along to Procurex - they are free for you.  Next one is 21st March 2017 in Birmingham, then 20th April back at Olympia.

The CIPS event is full incidentally, and next one is 21st February 2017 also in Birmingham.

Hope to see you at one of these.

@pawa51

Local Government Procurement Expo

I shall be talking at LGPE at Olympia (London) on Wednesday 2nd November 2016.  The event is run by BIP Solutions, and I shall be mainly giving a series of talks in the Supplier Training Zone.

The event is free for Public Sector Delegates, and as always there are a bunch of key note speeches that I shall miss because I am doing my sessions.  First up is Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the Crown Commercial Service - which should be interesting.

The ever interesting Eddie Regan will be talking about Procurement post Brexit - which I would love to hear if I wasn't covering a session for him.

Hope to see you there. 

P4H - 13th July 2016 Birmingham NEC

I shall be presenting the Supplier Training Zone at P4H, the leading Procurement event supporting Operational productivity in the NHS run by BIP Solutions.  Which is a bit of a mouthful, but does describe what it is about.

It is free to the Public Sector, and £95 for private sector - but hopefully the training sessions alone compensate for that (not necessarily mine, of course - there are 3 other training zones as well).  The sessions I am running are not only applicable to the NHS, so there would be value in popping along if you supply other Public sector bodies too.

Hope to see you there.

Procurex North: Manchester 8th March 2016

Apologies for the lack of posting, but I have been rather busy on a number of rather interesting training programmes that I hope to be able to tell you about later.  They should be continuing throughout this year (and maybe next) so I do hope to get clearance from the client.

One thing I can mention though is that I shall once again be presenting at Procurex North in Manchester on 8th March 2016.  I shall be running one of the training zones (not sure which one yet), but more importantly Sally Collier Chief Executive of the Crown Commercial Service will be giving one of the key note speeches.  I'll forgive you if you listen to her rather than me.

Hope to see you there.

Procurex Scotland- Tuesday 6th October 2015

Pretty much straight after the weekend I shall be going to Glasgow for the annual Procurex Scotland event, on Tuesday 6th October 2015 at the SECC.  Some very interesting talks - which I may well miss because I shall be presenting in one of the Key Event Zones.  You can't say you haven't been warned.

Hope to see you there - always an interesting event.

If Scotland is a wee bit far there Procurex events in 2016 in Wales, Ireland, and the North and South of England (some of which I shall not be at, so you can pick and choose).

Procurex North Manchester 26th February 2015

It all seems to be Manchester this month.  Which suits me - always great to go back.
As mentioned in an earlier blog I shall be taking part in Procurex North at Manchester Central on Thursday 26th February 2015.  For those who don't recognise the location, it is the conference centre formerly known as GMex, where I once saw Prince - back when he was "the artist formally known as Prince".  Parking underneath GMex, sorry Manchester Central, tram  stop Deansgate-Castlefield, (formerly known as GMex) or St. Peter's Square (still called that as far as I know)

I shall be running the Supplier Training Zone (details here) looking at the new EU procurement regulations which are coming in (literally) any day now, sustainability and selection criteria. 

There will also be a Buyer's training zone, an E-enablement zone (where I hope to be able to sneak in to hear the latest about procurement cards), and keynote speeches from Sir Howard Bernstein (Chief Exec of Manchester City Council, and one of the architects of the great development of Manchester over the past 20 years),  Jim Hemmington (head of procurement at the BBC - don't forget to ask questions about Salford), Sally Collier (Chief Exec of the Crown Commercial Service) and several other speakers.
Plus the usual array of exhibition stands.

Always a great event - hope to see you there.