Well, we are just under 2 weeks away from our next online session.
The aim as always is to help people understand the new Procurement Act 2023, and the opportunities for their organisation.
Always enjoy the mix of businesses attending and it leads to really interesting discussions.
Full details are here.
Hope to see you there.
Well, I'm back from holiday (Malta, thanks for asking - see below - it's lovely). So time to get ready for Preparing Perfect Tenders (online).
Full details are here. Best be quick if you want to join us. I hope that you do.
(Sorry it is just online, and not in person in Malta... maybe if enough people ask?)
The next course is to be held on Wednesday 22nd April online and is filling up nicely.
So, if you want to attend please book promptly. Details here.
But there will be more later this year.
The course is suitable for both buyers and suppliers.
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.
Last open course for 2025 (for me) is online on Wednesday 4th December 2025.
Full details are here.
These courses have been very popular, and so we shall run them again in 2026, but not until February at the earliest. And there will probably be a run of other courses as well, but not until the Spring.
So if you are interested, hope to see you online.
I think this is a very interesting submission from the UK Anti-Corruption Coalition to the Covid-19 enquiry.
My comments were;
Chris, great stuff. As my delegates will know, the late publication of PPE contract notices is a major gripe of mine (even allowing, as you do, for the difficult circumstances). That this was a deliberate attempt by government to escape scrutiny is (I think) an inescapable conclusion, leading to a huge loss of trust in public procurement and government. Even if no wrong doing were to be discovered, this is a terrible damage for the country. It was a deliberate choice by Ministers, who should be ashamed of themselves.
The facts that PPE was expensive, and fraudsters took advantage with sub-par products, are probably unavoidable. The damage to public trust was easily avoidable. It immediately leads people to think "there is no smoke without fire" and to suspect deliberate fraud and corruption at the highest level. In short, the exact opposite of what might have been intended.
There is good news and bad news about the course I run for GovPD - Winning more contracts, understanding and implementing the Procurement Act 2023.
The good news is that we are running it online again on 5th August 2025.
The bad news is that that session is already sold out.
The better news is that we have more dates scheduled - 1st October 2025 and 3rd December 2025.
But if you are interested, might be an idea to get booking. The course is mostly focused on suppliers, but is relevant to buyers too (and I make sure to tweak the content according to the delegates).
The Procurement Act 2023 has been in place since 24th February 2025. The government is now starting a consultation on proposed changes. These are mostly fairly minor, and are about extending the requirements placed on Central government departments to cover all contracting authorities (and a bit more clarification on SMEs and Social Value).
The deadline for responses is 5th September 2025, so you have a couple of months to respond (but don't forget). The link is here .
My first thoughts are (as above) nothing to significant. But I'll have a think and share my responses when I submit them.
Always interested in hearing/reading other people's thoughts too.
It is quite understandable that businesses are not aware of all the possibilities and challenges of new regulation, and I hope to be able to guide you through the new processes in a way that helps you to win more public sector business.
The course is online and full details are available at the link here.
If you cannot make 5th June there is another running on 8th July, but with my colleague Gemma rather than me. You may, of course, prefer that!
Hope to see you there
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.
The new National Procurement Policy Statement has been published and I will be briefly discussing it at The Procurement Act Live! at the NEC on Thursday 27th February 2025.
Helpfully the NPPS was published about an hour after I had submitted my presentation for formatting (I'm not bitter...) but at least I have been able to update it appropriately.
The key element as I seem them are...
Kickstart Economic Growth
Opportunities for SMEs (PPN 001 (2025)
High quality jobs
Encouraging Innovation
Make Britain a Green Energy superpower
Accelerating to NetZero
Take back our streets
Break down barriers to opportunity
Skills gaps
Removing barriers to entry for young people and under represented groups
Build a NHS fit for the future
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
Happy New Year.
The end of year break has gone past quickly and we are now quickly into the thick of courses and events. Still looking forward to the Procurement Act 2023 going live on 24th February 2025.
I shall be running Procurement Fundamentals online on 13th January 2025 for CIPS. A one day course, giving you (guess what?) the fundamentals of procurement (for both public and private sectors, services and manufacturing).
Hope you will join us.
full details here.
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:
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 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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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)
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