Transforming public procurement

The new regime applies to all public sector organisations and will speed up and simplify procurement processes - where approx. £385 billion is spent each year on essential goods and services - making it easier for suppliers to bid for contracts and buying decisions more transparent for the public.

To support stakeholders, a comprehensive FAQ resource has been published to address these scenarios.

If you have specific queries or concerns, please contact: [email protected].

Procurements initiated before 24 February 2025 will continue to be governed by existing legislation, which remains applicable alongside the new regime where relevant.

The commencement of the Act does not affect the availability or content of official Learning & Development materials, which remain accessible. The additional preparation time has supported a smoother digital transition, ensuring more effective implementation for both contracting authorities and suppliers.

For councils (contracting authorities) this is an important moment. The new Act provides a range of benefits to improve the way public procurement is regulated to:

• make it more accessible, efficient, and beneficial for both councils and suppliers
• provide a clearer framework for decision making
• create a simpler and more flexible, commercial system that better meets our country’s needs while remaining compliant with our international obligations
• open up public procurement to new entrants such as small businesses and social enterprises so that they can compete for and win more public contracts
• relax restrictions on considering factors such as supplier location and social value, allowing councils more flexibility to support local businesses and achieve wider community benefits
• embed transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle so that the spending of taxpayers’ money can be properly scrutinised.

National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS)

In addition to the Procurement Act 2023 and the Procurement Regulations 2024 a National Procurement Policy Statement was published; setting out the strategic priorities for public procurement and how contracting authorities can support its delivery.

Public procurement is a key lever in achieving and supporting the Government Missions and Priorities. Councils will need to ‘have regard’ to these through their procurement processes.

Learning and development

There are various useful resources available to aid with learning and development around the Procurement Act 2023.

• The Cabinet Office has developed a short guide outlining the comprehensive, centrally funded, free learning and development package for contracting authorities.
• We continue to raise awareness through direct communication and through our LGA Procurement and Supply Chain bulletin.
• Knowledge Drops are designed to provide an overview of the Procurement Act 2023 for contracting authorities suppliers who deliver contracts to the UK public sector, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs).
• The Procurement Act 2023 e-learning modules are the key learning product to support practitioners in implementing the new regime.
• The procurement pathway tool is to guide UK public sector contracting authorities through the end-to-end commercial lifecycle.

For more information on learning and development resources visit our page

Single Points of Contact (SPOC)

The SPOCs are the link between the LGA and Cabinet Office - as the single point of contact (SPOC) for Local Government, the LGA will identify and ensure effective channels of communication for cascading information, including promoting the individual elements of the learning and development package within the Local Government sector and organisations. They will also feedback insight and intelligence on the effectiveness of that communication and/or any gaps or misunderstanding. This includes attending regular SPOC meetings, working groups, and providing feedback into the learning and development plans and coordinating the 'mini- SPOCs' across the sector.

SPOCs will add and remove Superusers from the system and contact the Cabinet Office with any issues you may be facing. 

The LGA SPOCs are Tina Holland, Bev Thomas and Michael Balls and they can be contacted by emailing: [email protected].

Mini Single Points of Contact (Mini SPOC) 

The Mini-SPOCs are your key contacts for anything related to the TPP programme. The Mini-SPOCs are your regional representatives, available to assist, escalate issues and promote best practices within your region. They collaborate on a national level to ensure all notable practices are captured and shared.

Superusers

There are some key differences between superusers and those signed up for deep dive training, all superusers will complete the training but not all of those on the training will be superusers. In short, a superuser will, on behalf of their own organisation, support the implementation of the TPP learning and development programme. 

Superusers also get access to additional networking, a community of practice and the ability to share experiences and notable practice with other superusers. We would expect each council to have one or two superusers to undertake this role. In response to feedback from the last local government superuser meeting we will be setting up regional networks for superusers to attend and share their thoughts and good practice.

Communities of Practice

The Community of Practice and Superuser portals are available now on the Government Commercial College website. A login will be required.

Knowledge Hub for local government procurement

All council officers are welcome to join our closed Local Government Procurement Knowledge Hub group where you can share resources, queries and solutions relating to local government only.