Procurement Guidance Documents

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by Kate Hiller, Legal Team Manager

On 26 March 2024, the Cabinet Office published a number of guidance documents to accompany the Procurement Act 2023 and the Public Procurement Regulations 2024 that were laid before Parliament the day before.

At first glance, they do appear quite helpful.  It is appealing that they are all relatively short in length (most of them 5-7 pages but some a little longer).  The content also appears quite focussed on what you need to know rather than padding it out with unnecessary background information, which is helpful.

What is notable is that the majority of the guidance notes published are aimed at explaining the new terminology that the Act and the new Regulations have adopted.  It becomes almost a dictionary of definitions as we move from familiar terminology to the new expressions adopted in relation to similar to concepts.

So far, the guidance includes the following:

  • Contracting Authority definition
  • Covered Procurement definition
  • Valuation of Contracts
  • Mixed Procurement
  • Exempted Contracts
  • Thresholds.

The Cabinet Office note that there are more batches of guidance to follow, with the intention of all guidance documents published by the end of June (some light summer reading for procurement enthusiasts!)

The guidance documents are worth checking out – Procurement Act 2023 guidance documents – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) – and sharing with your procurement officers in preparation for when the provisions start taking effect.