On 24 February 2025, the rules that shape how public bodies buy goods, services and works will change. The Procurement Act 2023 (PA2023) will replace current Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR2015).
The Cabinet Office has introduced a Transforming Public Procurement Programme which aims to improve the way public procurement is regulated. The new Act will:
- simplify the bidding processes to make it easier for suppliers to bid, negotiate and work in partnership with the public sector
- make commercial frameworks more open, so prospective suppliers are not shut out for extended periods of time
- remove bureaucratic barriers for smaller businesses and VCSEs so they can compete for more contracts
- require Contracting Authorities to provide consistent feedback for suppliers: a requirement on public bodies to provide bid assessments for final tenders
Information and guidance for suppliers
The Cabinet Office has published information and guidance for suppliers in readiness for 24 February 2025.
The information includes a series of videos to help suppliers understand and navigate the Central Digital Platform, including how to register, upload organisational information and search and bid for opportunities .
If you want to sell to Wirral Council after 24 February 2025 and bid for contracting opportunities, we recommend you look at the following guides and videos published by the Government Commercial Function:
- The Procurement Act 2023 - a short guide for suppliers
- Transforming Public Procurement - GOV.UK
- Knowledge Drop for Suppliers Part 1 of 3
- Knowledge Drop for Suppliers Part 2 of 3
- Knowledge Drop for Suppliers Part 3 of 3
If your organisation is a small and medium sized enterprise (SME) or a voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE), we also recommend you watch these videos:
- Knowledge Drop for SME VCSE Suppliers Part 1 of 3
- Knowledge Drop for SME VCSE Suppliers Part 2 of 3
- Knowledge Drop for SME VCSE Suppliers Part 3 of 3
Contracts awarded or tenders commenced prior to 24 February 2025, will be subject to the requirements of the previous legislation, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and Concession Contracts Regulations 2016.
The Central Digital Platform
What is the Central Digital Platform?
The Central Digital Platform is an online portal which will be where all UK Contracting Authorities will publish information relating to procurement. It is also the place where identifiers are recorded and/or issued and for suppliers to input their commonly used information. It will be a fully integrated digital platform where noticing, sign-in and registration and supplier information all works together to support public sector procurement.
The Central Digital Platform has been designed to:
- feature a simple registration and identification for both suppliers and buyers
- store suppliers’ core business details that can be used for multiple bids
- enable easy management and updating of core information quickly, and shared easily between suppliers, eSenders and buyers
- make public procurement opportunities visible making it easier to search at no cost and set up alerts for tenders of interest for suppliers
- allow for procurement noticing throughout the procurement lifecycle
- capture procurement data and eventually allow creation of dashboards to analyse that data
Registering on the Central Digital Platform
The Central Digital Platform will be open to supplier registration on 24 February 2025. Suppliers can get ready for registration by viewing the 'How To' videos and guides available on the dedicated GOV.UK supplier page.
Government Commercial Function training
To support readiness for the new Act, the Government Commercial Function ran two webinars for suppliers and other external organisations in January. The sessions were primarily focused on what the key changes are, how the Central Digital Platform will work and an opportunity for suppliers to ask questions on their own preparations for go-live.
These sessions were recorded - watch the webinar sessions.