Purpose

The regulations currently governing the way
public procurements are undertaken is the Public Contracts
Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015). These rules are set to change in
October 2024. The Procurement Bill reforming the current
procurement rules received royal assent in October 2023 and was
passed into law as the Procurement Act 2023 (referred to as the Act
in this document).

Once implemented, the Procurement Act 2023 will replace the current
Public Contracts Regulations
2015, the Concessions Contracts Regulations 2016 and the Utilities
Contracts Regulations 2016 to
become the law that regulates public procurement in England, Wales
and Northern Ireland.

The change in the procurement regulations necessitates amending the
council’s contract
procedure rule (CPR) to ensure compliance with the Procurement Act
2023 for the procurement of supplies, services and works.

This report provides a brief overview of the Procurement Act 2023
and the amendments to the council’s contract procedure
rule.