Transforming Public Procurement - Procurement Act 2023
Introduction
Contracting authorities (such as Dover District Council) and suppliers will need to follow new procurement legislation from the 24th of February 2025.
The Procurement Act 2023 aims to improve the way public procurement is regulated to:
- offer greater freedom and flexibility to design procurement processes
- improve transparency measures
- benefit Small Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) by reflecting the government’s commitment to removing barriers to accessing public contracts
- strengthen the ability to remove or exclude suppliers who are unfit to deliver public contracts e.g. because of past misconduct, corruption or poor performance
Overview
This is an important piece of legislation that will change the way the Council, and the wider public sector buys goods, services and works. As a contracting authority this will impact the way we do business with our suppliers, so if you commission services, goods or works, you will need to know about these changes.
The existing procurement regulations will continue to apply for contracts that are already in progress, and for procurement projects started under the current regime, however for all new procurement projects post 24th of February 2025, it is important that you understand the change.
Please see the short animation below: -
The Procurement Act 2023: A Summary Guide for Suppliers
Central Digital Platform (CDP) - Supplier Information System
The Act introduces several changes in relation to supplier selection including the launch of the Central Digital Platform (CDP). The CDP (maintained by the Cabinet Office) includes a new Supplier Information System that enables you to register and provide your basic supplier information for future procurements in one single place.
This negates the need to provide the same information each time you tender for either the Council’s tenders or any other contracting authority’s procurement opportunities. Registration is free of charge and data is held and stored privately. This is an enhancement to the existing Find a Tender Service currently in place.
Please see the fact sheet and short overview video below: -
20241029 CDP Factsheet v1.0
A guide for everyone: An overview of the central digital platform, an enhanced Find a Tender service (YouTube)
What you need to do
From 24th of February 2025, suppliers will be able to register on the CDP - the new enhanced Find a Tender service as the Council (and other contracting authorities) will require the information from the CDP as part of your tender submission for above *threshold procurements.
For below threshold procurements, you do not have to be registered on the CDP however, you may wish to do so to prevent you from having to repeatedly provide your details for each quotation/tender you bid for (either with the Council or another contracting authority).
*Threshold Amounts (inclusive of VAT) are as follows:-
- £214,904 – Goods and Services
- £5,372,609 – Works/Concessions
To help prospective suppliers prepare, the Cabinet Office have published the following video guides on the registration process.
Other Useful links
The Procurement Act 2023
The Procurement Act 2023: A summary guide for SMEs and VCSEs.
Guidance: National Procurement Policy Statement (HTML) - GOV.UK