The UK Procurement Bill

Following our Winter update (see here), the UK’s Procurement Bill (“Bill”) has now completed its passage through the Committee Stage in the House of Commons. The next stage in the Parliamentary process is the Report Stage, where MPs will debate further amendments to the Bill. No date for the Report Stage has been announced, but the UK Government anticipates this to be in May 2023.

The UK Government is expecting the Bill to become law in Spring 2023, however, this is subject to possible Parliamentary ‘ping-pong’ (i.e., wording of the bill going back and forth between the House of Commons and Lords), which may cause delay.

The UK Government has committed to providing a minimum of 6 months’ notice before the new law goes ‘live’ and has said that ‘go-live’ will not be until early 2024 at the earliest.

The UK Government will need to introduce secondary legislation to support the implementation of specific aspects of the new regime (e.g., the content of notices to be published under the new regime). Following the Bill becoming law, the UK Government will focus on finalising the secondary legislation; we have been told that this process will include a public consultation. The UK Government has said that it will share more details, including timing of the consultation, as soon as possible.

The consultation process is an important opportunity for businesses and stakeholders to inform the development of the secondary legislation and guidance. We will be keeping a close eye on the proposed secondary legislation and have experience of responding to consultations as well as supporting businesses responding to public consultations. We will keep you updated on the progress of the consultation, and would be happy to assist in supporting a response to the consultation.

International bidders, continuing to look to build business in the UK, are encouraged to keep abreast of the impending changes and the upcoming consultation process. As we approach the Bill becoming law, Bird & Bird’s UK Procurement Team, will be rolling out a series of workshops for clients.

For more information contact Stuart Cairns