Regulated procurement | UK Regulatory Outlook January 2025

New procurement regime to go live 

The Procurement Act 2023 received Royal Assent in October 2023 and is due to "go-live" on 24 February 2025 after a delay from the originally anticipated October 2024 date. The delay was due to the new government revising the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS) to reflect their policy priorities for public procurement. 

In addition to our series of webinars and Insight articles on the key changes in the Act, we have also published our "Getting your house in order" series of videos, checklists and infographics aimed at preparing suppliers for implementation. All of this content can be found on our Procurement Act microsite, which acts as a one-stop shop for preparation for the Act to "go-live". 

Transitional arrangements apply as we move from the current procurement regulations to the Procurement Act - only new procurements launched after the go-live date will be governed by the new Act. As a reminder, any procurement started prior to go-live (or contracts already awarded) will remain under the existing regulations, including in relation to any future modifications or extensions. The government has confirmed that there will be no mixing of the two regimes; the end point for the application of the old regime is the termination of the relevant contract or framework or procurement where no contract is awarded. 

The Procurement Act 2023 (Consequential and Other Amendments) Regulations 2025 (the 2025 Regulations), which were laid in Parliament on 9 December 2024, are also scheduled to come into force on 24 February 2025, in line with the Act. The 2025 Regulations primarily make chances to other pieces of legislation (for example, amending references in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015)), but also include additional elements, such as the calculation provisions for horizontal and vertical procurement. The 2025 Regulations also update the thresholds in Schedule 1 of the Act to align with those in use since January 2024.

Launch of the Central Digital Platform (CDP)

Onboarding and registration for contracting authorities for the much-anticipated Central Digital Platform (CDP) is set to begin in late January 2025, with the timing of onboarding and registration for suppliers to be confirmed. "Go-live" for the CDP will be at 00:01 on 24 February 2025, in line with the Procurement Act. A full list of the information needed for registration is available on the CDP Factsheet. 

Suppliers will be able to register and update their core business information on the platform, including records of accreditations and financial information, which can then be shared across multiple bids and customers. Suppliers will also be able to upload information on connected persons to the CDP. Suppliers should note, however, that contracting authorities will continue to run procurements using a range of procurement platforms; this means that while core business information can be drawn from the CDP and need not be repeated, submission of tender-specific responses will continue to require interaction with separate platforms. 

New National Procurement Policy Statement  

Commencement of the Act was delayed in order to allow the new Labour government further time to re-draft the NPPS, which sets out the government's strategic priorities for public procurement, and how contracting authorities can support their delivery. It was explained in a written parliamentary statement on 12 September 2024 that the government's view was that the current NPPS "does not meet the challenge of applying the full potential of public procurement to deliver value for money, economic growth and social value." 

To inform the development of the new NPPS, a stakeholder survey was launched on 7 October 2024, and closed on 4 November 2024. The government hopes that, following the delay of the Act's go-live date and with fresh input from stakeholders, the new NPPS can better address "this Government's priorities for public procurement in support of [their] missions." The new NPPS is expected to be published in advance of commencement of the Act on 24 February 2025. 

Unlike under previous legislation, the NPPS is now to be provided for at section 13 of the Act, mandating contracting authorities to have regard to it when conducting public procurements. 

The NHS and the 10-Year Health Plan 

Health and Social Care Secretary, Wes Streeting, announced on 13 November 2024 plans to prepare an ambitious 10 Year Health Plan aimed squarely at overhauling the NHS, following Lord Darzi's report detailing the deterioration of the NHS in recent years. 

With the 10 Year Health Plan, the government intends to deliver plans for - among other things - new neighbourhood health centres, the creation of a single digital patient record using the NHS App, and the optimisation of NHS digital systems to allow NHS staff to share data more easily. Underpinning these changes is the intention of moving "from sickness to prevention", with the aim to shorten the amount of time people spend in ill health and prevent illnesses before they happen. 

As a part of the 10 Year Health Plan, the government launched a platform for members of the public, as well as NHS staff and experts, to share their experiences, views and ideas for fixing the NHS via the Change NHS online platform, which was live for input until the start of 2025. Following the closure of the platform, the government plans to publish the 10 Year Health Plan in spring 2025. 

This reform will go hand-in-hand with other government initiatives focused on upgrading the NHS, including the "Design for Life Roadmap" focused on integrating a circular economy into medical technology, and the "NHS net zero supplier roadmap". We have set out the milestones for the NHS Net Zero Supplier Roadmap in an earlier Insight. 

Modern slavery in public procurement 

As a part of the government's initiatives in tackling modern slavery in public procurement, it has proposed the draft National Health Service (Procurement, Slavery and Human Trafficking) Regulations 2024 (the NHS PSHT Regulations), aimed at combatting modern slavery and ensuring NHS supply chains and business activities are free from ethical and labour standards abuses. 

The consultation to the NHS PSHT Regulations, which provide the draft form of the regulations alongside accompanying guidance, was published on 21 November 2024 and closes at 11:59pm on 13 February 2025. The government has invited public bodies, suppliers and interested members of the public via the consultation. 

Prompt payment for all businesses 

Looking ahead, the government has published a new Procurement Policy Note (PPN), PPN 018, which is set to replace PPN 015 from 1 October 2025. PPN 018 does not majorly deviate from its predecessor – both set out how payments approaches can be taken into account in the procurement of major contracts. The primary change between the two is the reduction of the average payment days threshold. Currently, suppliers are required to pay invoices in their supply chain within an average of 55 days. From 1 October 2025, a supplier must demonstrate it pays all its invoices in its supply chain within an average of 45 days, and is paying 95% of invoices within 60 days (90% with an action plan).

The change ties in with the increased focus within the Act on easing the burden on small, medium enterprises (SMEs), for whom the cash-flow implications of late payments pose a key challenge and a hindrance to increased SME involvement in public contracts. 

As a reminder, once the Act is live, it will mandate that all contracts awarded under it include an even stricter 30-day payment term, which is implied in contracts even if not explicitly written into them. This term applies to contracting authorities, requiring prompt payment of suppliers but is also mirrored in provisions affecting any sub-contracts which are wholly or substantially for the purpose of contributing to the performance of the public contract, meaning suppliers will also need to pay their own supply chain within 30 days.