Citation, extent and interpretation_I1

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Procurement Act 2023 (Commencement No. 3 and Transitional and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2024.

(2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

(3) In these Regulations—

“ the Act ” means the Procurement Act 2023 ;

“ the 2011 Regulations ” means the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 ( 2 );

“ the 2015 Regulations ” means the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ( 3 );

“ the 2016 CC Regulations ” means the Concession Contract Regulations 2016 ( 4 );

“ the 2016 UC Regulations ” means the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 ( 5 ).

Provisions coming into force_I2

2.—(1) Subsections (2), (3) and (4) of section 115 of the Act come into force the day after the day on which these Regulations are made.

(2) The provisions of the Act set out in the Schedule come into force on [^F124th February 2025^F1] .

Saving provisions relating to the 2011 Regulations_I3

3.—(1) Despite the revocation of the 2011 Regulations by section 119(1) of, and paragraph 4 of Schedule 11 to, the Act, those Regulations continue to apply in respect of procurement procedures, contracts and framework agreements in any of the circumstances described in paragraph (2).

(2) The circumstances are that, with reference to the 2011 Regulations, before [^F224th February 2025^F2] —

(a)a contracting authority has awarded the contract or concluded the framework agreement;

(b)a contracting authority has sought offers in relation to a proposed Part B services contract or a framework agreement in respect of which only Part B services contracts can be based or awarded, other than one excluded by virtue of regulation 7 or 9, for any services referred to in sub-paragraph (c), (d) or (e) of regulation 6(1);

(c)a contracting authority has contacted an economic operator in order to commence the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice in accordance with regulations 16(1) and 18(1), (2), (9) and (10);

(d)a contracting authority using the restricted procedure has submitted a contract notice inviting requests to be selected to tender in accordance with regulation 17(2);

(e)a contracting authority using the negotiated procedure has submitted a contract notice inviting requests to be selected to negotiate in accordance with regulation 18(3);

(f)a contracting authority using the competitive dialogue procedure has submitted a contract notice inviting requests to participate in accordance with regulation 19(4).

(3) Where the 2011 Regulations continue to apply in accordance with paragraph (1), the Act does not apply.

(4) Terms used in this regulation have the same meaning as in the 2011 Regulations(6) as they had effect immediately before [^F224th February 2025^F2] .

Transitional provisions relating to repeat services or works under a contract awarded under the 2011 Regulations_I4

4.—(1) This regulation applies for the purposes of determining whether a contracting authority may award a public contract directly under section 41 of the Act (direct award in special cases) in a case where—

(a)the public contract concerns the supply of services or works by the existing supplier that are a repetition of existing services or works, and

(b)the existing services or works were supplied under a contract or framework agreement that was awarded in accordance with the 2011 Regulations.

(2) The direct award justification in paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to the Act (direct award justifications) has effect as if—

(a) in the words before paragraph (a), “goods,”, in each place it occurs, were omitted,

(b)in paragraph (a)—

(i) “goods,” and “public” were omitted, and

(ii) for “in accordance with a competitive tendering procedure” there were substituted “otherwise than in accordance with regulation 16 of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 ” ,

(c)for paragraph (b) there were substituted—

“(b)a contract notice in respect of that earlier contract or framework agreement contained a statement complying with the requirements of regulation 16(6)(a) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011.”, and

(d)in paragraph 9 of that Schedule—

(i) for “paragraphs 7 and” there were substituted “paragraph” , and

(ii) “goods,” in each place it occurs in the first definition, and where it occurs in the second definition, were omitted.

(3) In paragraph (1)—

“ existing services or works ” means services or works already supplied, or contracted to be supplied, to the contracting authority;

“ existing supplier ” means the supplier that has already supplied, or contracted to supply, the existing services or works.

Saving provisions relating to the 2015 Regulations_I5

5.—(1) Despite the revocation of the 2015 Regulations by section 119(1) of, and paragraph 5 of Schedule 11 to, the Act, those Regulations continue to apply, as modified by paragraph (4)(b) [^F3, (c), (d) and (e)^F3] , in respect of procurement procedures, contracts, framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems in any of the circumstances described in paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) The circumstances in this paragraph are that, with reference to the 2015 Regulations, before 26th May 2023, a sub-central contracting authority submitted for publication in accordance with regulation 51 (publication on the UK e-notification service) a prior information notice as a call for competition in accordance with regulation 26(9).

(3) The circumstances in this paragraph are that, with reference to the 2015 Regulations, before [^F424th February 2025^F4] —

(a)a contracting authority has awarded the contract, concluded the framework agreement or established the dynamic purchasing system;

(b)a contracting authority has contacted an economic operator in order to commence the negotiated procedure without prior publication in any of the specific cases and circumstances set out in regulation 32;

(c)either—

(i)a contract notice required by regulation 26(8) or 75(1)(a) (publication of notices: public contracts for social and other specific services), or

(ii)a contest notice required by regulation 79 (notices)

has been submitted for publication in accordance with regulation 51;

(d)a contracting authority has had published on the UK e-notification service a voluntary transparency notice expressing its intention to enter into a contract in accordance with regulation 99(3)(b) (grounds for ineffectiveness: one of the conditions for the non-application of the first ground);

(e)a contracting authority has published information about a contract award opportunity on Contracts Finder in accordance with regulation 110(2) (publication of contract award opportunities on Contracts Finder).

(4) Where the 2015 Regulations continue to apply in accordance with paragraph (1)—

(a)the Act does not apply;

(b)the period of validity of a dynamic purchasing system under regulation 34 of those Regulations—

(i)may not be changed after [^F523rd February 2026^F5] , and

(ii)expires (if it has not already done so) at the end of [^F623rd February 2029^F6] ;

(c)regulation 113 of those Regulations (payment of undisputed invoices within 30 days by contracting authorities, contractors and subcontractors) is to be read as if—

(i)in paragraph (7), in the words before sub-paragraph (a)—

(aa) for “Every financial year” there were substituted “In every period, the first being the period beginning with [^F4 24th February 2025 ^F4] and ending with [^F7 30th September 2025 ^F7] and subsequent periods being each subsequent successive period of six months” , and

(bb) after “preceding”, for “financial year” there were substituted “period” ,

(ii) in paragraph (8)(b), for “financial year” there were substituted “period” , and

(iii) in paragraph (11), the definition of “financial year” were omitted [^F8 ;

(d)in relation to framework agreements, Schedule 4A to the 2015 Regulations (international trade agreements) is to be read as if, at the end was inserted—

“Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Kazakhstan signed at Astana on 24th April 2024.

Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Iraq signed at London on 14th January 2025.”;

(e)in relation to dynamic purchasing systems, Schedule 4A to the 2015 Regulations is to be read as if, at the end was inserted—

“Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Iraq signed at London on 14th January 2025.”^F8]

(5) Terms used in this regulation have the same meaning as in the 2015 Regulations(7) as they had effect immediately before [^F424th February 2025^F4] .

Transitional provisions relating to repeat services or works supplied under a contract awarded under the 2015 Regulations_I6

6.—(1) This regulation applies for the purposes of determining whether a contracting authority may award a public contract directly under section 41 of the Act (direct award in special cases) in a case where—

(a)the public contract concerns the supply of services or works by the existing supplier that are similar to existing services or works, and

(b)the existing services or works were supplied under a public contract or framework agreement that was awarded in accordance with the 2015 Regulations.

(2) The direct award justification in paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to the Act (direct award justifications) has effect as if—

(a) in the words before paragraph (a), “goods,”, in each place it occurs, were omitted,

(b)in paragraph (a)—

(i) “goods,” were omitted, and

(ii) for “a competitive tendering procedure” there were substituted “ regulation 26(1) and (2) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ” ,

(c)for paragraph (b) there were substituted—

“(b)there was a disclosure as soon as that earlier contract was put up for tender that met the requirements of regulation 32(11) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.”, and

(d)in paragraph 9 of that Schedule—

(i) for “paragraphs 7 and” there were substituted “paragraph” , and

(ii) “goods,” in each place it occurs in the first definition, and where it occurs in the second definition were omitted.

(3) In paragraph (1)—

“ existing services or works ” means services or works already supplied, or contracted to be supplied, to the contracting authority;

“ existing supplier ” means the supplier that has already supplied, or contracted to supply, the existing services or works.

Saving provisions relating to the 2016 CC Regulations_I7

7.—(1) Despite the revocation of the 2016 CC Regulations by section 119(1) of, and paragraph 6 of Schedule 11 to, the Act, those Regulations continue to apply in respect of procurement procedures and contracts where, with reference to those Regulations, before [^F924th February 2025^F9] , a contracting authority has—

(a)awarded the contract, or

(b)submitted—

(i)a concession notice required by regulation 31(1), or

(ii)a prior information notice required by regulation 31(3),

for publication in accordance with regulation 33(1) (form and manner of publication of notices).

(2) Where the 2016 CC Regulations continue to apply in accordance with paragraph (1), the Act does not apply.

(3) Terms used in paragraph (1) have the same meaning as in the 2016 CC Regulations(8) as they had effect immediately before [^F924th February 2025^F9] .

Saving provisions relating to the 2016 UC Regulations_I8

8.—(1) Despite the revocation of the 2016 UC Regulations by section 119(1) of, and paragraph 7 of Schedule 11 to, the Act, those Regulations continue to apply [^F10, as modified by paragraph 4(b), (c), (d) and (e),^F10] in respect of procurement procedures, contracts, framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems in any of the circumstances described in paragraphs (2) and (3).

(2) The circumstances in this paragraph are that, with reference to the 2016 UC Regulations, before 26th May 2023, a utility submitted for publication in accordance with regulation 71 (publication on the UK e-notification service) a periodic indicative notice as a call for competition in accordance with regulation 44(4)(a)(9).

(3) The circumstances in this paragraph are that, with reference to the 2016 UC Regulations, before [^F1124th February 2025^F11] —

(a)a utility has awarded the contract, concluded the framework agreement or established the dynamic purchasing system;

(b)a utility has contacted an economic operator in respect of a proposed contract to which regulation 33 (contracts subject to special arrangements) applies;

(c)a utility has contacted an economic operator to commence the negotiated procedure without prior call for competition in any of the cases set out in regulation 50 (use of the negotiated procedure without prior call for competition);

(d)one of the following notices has been submitted for publication in accordance with regulation 71(1) (publication on the UK e-notification service)—

(i)a notice on the existence of a qualification system required by regulation 68;

(ii)a contract notice required by regulation 69;

(iii)a contest notice required by regulation 95.

(4) Where the 2016 UC Regulations continue to apply in accordance with paragraph (1)—

(a)the Act does not apply;

(b)the period of validity of a dynamic purchasing system under regulation 52 of the 2016 UC Regulations—

(i)may not be changed after [^F1223rd February 2026^F12] , and

(ii)expires (if it has not already done so) at the end of [^F1323rd February 2029^F13] ;

(c)the period of validity of a qualification system under regulation 68 of the 2016 UC Regulations—

(i)may not be changed after [^F1223rd February 2026^F12] , and

(ii)expires (if it has not already done so) at the end of [^F1323rd February 2029^F13][^F14 ;

(d)in relation to framework agreements, Schedule 3 to the 2016 UC Regulations (international trade agreements) is to be read as if, at the end was inserted—

“Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Kazakhstan signed at Astana on 24th April 2024.

Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Iraq signed at London on 14th January 2025.”;

(e)in relation to dynamic purchasing systems and qualification systems, Schedule 3 to the 2016 UC Regulations is to be read as if, at the end was inserted—

“Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the Republic of Iraq signed at London on 14th January 2025.”^F14]

(5) Terms used in this regulation have the same meaning as in the 2016 UC Regulations(10) as they had effect immediately before [^F1124th February 2025^F11] .

Transitional provisions relating to repeat services or works previously supplied under a contract awarded under the 2016 UC Regulations_I9

9.—(1) This regulation applies for the purposes of determining whether a contracting authority may award a public contract directly under section 41 of the Act (direct award in special cases) in a case where—

(a)the public contract concerns the supply of services or works by the existing supplier that are similar to existing services or works, and

(b)the existing services or works were supplied under a public contract of framework agreement that was awarded in accordance with the 2016 UC Regulations.

(2) The direct award justification in paragraph 8 of Schedule 5 to the Act (direct award justifications) has effect as if—

(a) in the words before paragraph (a), “goods,”, in each place it occurs, were omitted,

(b)in paragraph (a)—

(i) “goods,” were omitted;

(ii) for “a competitive tendering procedure” there were substituted “ regulation 44(1) and (2) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 ” ,

(c)for paragraph (b) there were substituted—

“(b)there was a disclosure as soon as that earlier contract was put up for tender that met the requirements of regulation 50(4)(b) of the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016.”, and

(d)in paragraph 9 of that Schedule—

(i) for “paragraphs 7 and” there were substituted “paragraph” , and

(ii) “goods,”, in each place it occurs in the first definition, and where it occurs in the second definition, were omitted.

(3) In paragraph (1)—

“ existing services or works ” means services or works already supplied, or contracted to be supplied, to the utility;

“ existing supplier ” means the supplier that has already supplied, or contracted to supply, the existing services or works.

Regulation 2(2)

Schedule Provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 coming into force on [^F1524th February 2025^F15] _I10

• Section 1 (procurement and covered procurement).

• Section 2 (contracting authorities).

• In section 3 (public contracts), subsections (2), (3) and (4).

• Section 4 (valuation of contracts).

• Section 5 (mixed procurement: above and below threshold).

• Section 7 (defence and security contracts)

• Section 8 (concession contracts).

• Section 10 (mixed procurement: special regime contracts).

• Section 11 (covered procurement only in accordance with this Act).

• Section 12 (covered procurement: objectives).

• Section 15 (planned procurement notices).

• Section 16 (preliminary market engagement).

• Section 17 (preliminary market engagement notices).

• Section 18 (duty to consider lots).

• Section 19 (award of public contracts following a competitive tendering procedure).

• Section 20 (competitive tendering procedures).

• Section 21 (tender notices and associated tender documents).

• Section 22 (conditions of participation).

• Section 23 (award criteria).

• Section 24 (refining award criteria).

• Section 25 (sub-contracting specifications).

• Section 26 (excluding suppliers from a competitive award).

• Section 27 (excluding suppliers from a competitive flexible procedure).

• Section 28 (excluding suppliers by reference to sub-contractors).

• Section 29 (excluding a supplier that is a threat to national security).

• Section 30 (excluding suppliers for improper behaviour).

• Section 31 (modifying a section 19 procurement).

• Section 32 (reserving contracts to supported employment providers).

• In section 33 (reserving contracts to public service mutuals), subsections (1) to (6).

• Section 34 (competitive award by reference to dynamic markets).

• Section 35 (dynamic markets: establishment).

• Section 36 (dynamic markets: membership).

• Section 37 (dynamic markets: removing members from the market).

• Section 38 (dynamic markets: fees).

• Section 39 (dynamic market notices).

• Section 40 (qualifying utilities dynamic market notices: no duty to publish a tender notice).

• Section 41 (direct award in special cases).

• Section 42 (direct award to protect life, etc.).

• Section 43 (switching to direct award).

• Section 44 (transparency notices).

• Section 45 (frameworks).

• Section 46 (frameworks: competitive selection process).

• Section 47 (frameworks: maximum term).

• Section 48 (frameworks: implied terms).

• Section 49 (open frameworks).

• Section 50 (contract award notices and assessment summaries).

• Section 51 (standstill periods on the award of contracts).

• Section 52 (key performance indicators).

• Section 53 (contract details notices and publiction of contracts).

• Section 54 (time limits).

• Section 55 (procurement termination notices).

• Section 56 (technical specifications).

• Section 57 (meaning of excluded and excludable supplier).

• Section 58 (considering whether a supplier is excluded or excludable).

• Section 59 (notification of exclusion of supplier).

• Section 60 (investigations of supplier: exclusion grounds).

• Section 61 (investigations under section 60: reports).

• Section 62 (debarment list).

• Section 63 (debarment decisions: interim relief).

• Section 64 (debarment list: application for removal).

• Section 65 (debarment decisions: appeals).

• Section 66 (debarment proceedings and closed material procedure).

• Section 67 (electronic invoicing: implied term).

• Section 68 (implied payment terms in public contracts).

• Section 72 (sub-contracting: directions).

• Section 73 (implied payment terms in sub-contracts).

• Section 74 (modifying a public contract).

• Section 75 (contract change notices).

• Section 76 (voluntary standstill period on the modification of contracts).

• Section 77 (publication of modifications).

• Section 78 (implied right to terminate public contracts).

• Section 79 (terminating public contracts: national security).

• Section 80 (contract termination notices).

• Section 81 (conflicts of interest: duty to identify).

• Section 82 (conflicts of interest: duty to mitigate).

• Section 83 (conflicts assessments).

• Section 84 (regulated below-threshold contracts).

• Section 85 (regulated below-threshold contracts: procedure).

• Section 86 (regulated below-threshold contracts: duty to consider small and medium-sized enterprises).

• In section 87 (regulated below-threshold contracts: notices), subsections (1) to (6).

• Section 88 (regulated below-threshold contracts: implied payment terms).

• In section 89 (treaty state suppliers), subsections (2), (5) and (6).

• Section 90 (treaty state suppliers: non-discrimination).

• Section 92 (trade disputes).

• [^F16 Section 93 (pipeline notices).^F16]

• Section 94 (general exemptions from duties to publish or disclose information).

• In section 95 (notices, documents and information: regulations and online system), subsections (4) and (5).

• Section 96 (electronic communications).

• Section 98 (record-keeping).

• Section 99 (data protection).

• Section 100 (duties under this Act enforceable in civil proceedings).

• Section 101 (automatic suspension of the entry into or modification of contracts).

• Section 102 (interim remedies).

• Section 103 (pre-contractual remedies).

• Section 104 (post-contractual remedies).

• Section 105 (post-contractual remedies: set aside conditions).

• Section 106 (time limits on claims).

• Section 107 (Part 9 proceedings and closed material procedure).

• Section 108 (procurement investigations).

• Section 109 (recommendations following procurement investigations).

• Section [^F17110^F17] (guidance following procurement investigations).

• Section 112 (Northern Ireland department: restrictions on the exercise of powers).

• In section 116 (disapplication of duty in section 17 of the Local Government Act 1988), subsection (1).

• Section 118 (concurrent powers and the Government of Wales Act 2006).

• Section 119 (repeals etc.).

• Schedule 2, to the extent that it is not already in force.

• Schedule 3.

• Schedule 4, to the extent that it is not already in force.

• Schedule 5.

• Schedule 6.

• Schedule 7.

• Schedule 8.

• Schedule 11.