Following the announcement that the coming into force of the Procurement Act 2023 (the Act) is delayed until 24 February 2025, the government has continued to publish a raft of technical guidance notes on the new procurement regime. The latest set of guidance relates to the new 'central digital platform' – the online system where procurement notices, contract information and supplier details will be published and stored.
Streamlining public procurement underpins the new Procurement Act 2023, and the efficiency and functionality of the central digital platform is fundamental to its success. Our article looks at what changes the central digital platform will bring to public procurement, and whether this will support the changes to the regime under the new Procurement Act 2023.
The central digital platform is intended to be a fully integrated digital platform where notices, sign-in and registration activities and, supplier information 'all work together to support public sector procurement.' It will be free to access, and will be the central database for authorities to publish, and suppliers to find out about, public procurement opportunities.
In order to undertake and participate in a procurement under the new Procurement Act 2023, all contracting authorities and suppliers will need to register on the central digital platform when it becomes available. This is regardless of whether they are already registered on Find a Tender. Once a supplier has registered on the central digital platform, they will be able to complete their core supplier information in advance of any specific procurement opportunities – this can be added to or updated at a later date if needed.
Onboarding for contracting authorities is due to start in late January 2025, although details of the onboarding process have not been released yet.
All contracting authorities and suppliers will be issued with a unique identifier when they first register on the central digital platform which will be used to identify themselves. If the supplier or contracting authority is already registered on an official database such as Companies House, that identifier (e.g. the registered company number) can be inputted on registration and used on the central digital platform.
A procurement identifier will also be allocated to a procurement when the contracting authority publishes the first notice. The contracting authority must use the procurement identifier for all notices relating to that procurement moving forwards, except in limited circumstances. The aim is to create a single data record that links all notices relating to that procurement.
The central digital platform is designed to replace the standard selection questionnaire. Going forwards, suppliers wishing to tender for contracts let under the Procurement Act 2023 will be required to submit, and keep up to date, core information onto the central digital platform. The core supplier information will include:
This is intended to reduce the administrative burden on suppliers by utilising a 'tell us once' approach, and means that contracting authorities don't have to request this information for each procurement. However, as part of the conditions of participation in the procurement process, contracting authorities will still need to make it clear that suppliers must register and submit their core supplier information through the central digital platform by the required deadline. If any information is missing from the platform, they will need to ask suppliers to update the platform to include that information, rather than obtaining this separately.
There is no requirement for contracting authorities to use the central digital platform to collect supplier information in below threshold procurements, however they can do this if they wish.
Contracting authorities can also request information that is not stored on the central digital platform separately, however if this information should be held on the central digital platform, they must request that suppliers update the central digital platform accordingly.
Whilst we can appreciate the potential streamlining and cost-saving benefits of storing core supplier information and the 'tell us once' approach for suppliers and contracting authorities alike, whether or not the government’s ambitions for the central digital platform are realised is very much dependent on the usability of the platform.
The new publication requirements under the Procurement Act 2023 are intended to support the government’s policy to enhance transparency in the award of public contracts. Notices and contract information must be published on the central digital platform at various points throughout the contract lifecycle - therefore it's vital that the online system is fit for purpose and provides sufficient information, to enable suppliers to assess opportunities and to scrutinise and challenge a contracting authority’s procurement activities. The current Find a Tender service is clunky and difficult to search and navigate, and previous attempts to create a supplier portal have failed to materialise. There are also rumours that the delay to the implementation of Procurement Act 2023 was due to the platform not being ready to go live.
Although the system is designed to streamline the procurement process, it’s unclear at this stage what will be involved in the onboarding process for contracting authorities, and how this will need to be managed internally. Given that onboarding is due to start in late January 2025, this doesn’t allow much time for procurement teams to get to grips with the new system before the 'go-live' date of 24 February 2025.
If the registration and onboarding process is properly managed, with adequate support available for contracting authorities and suppliers ahead of the 'go-live' date for the Procurement Act 2023, and the system operates in a user-friendly manner, this should hopefully facilitate a smooth transition to the new regime. However only time will tell if the system will support the desired changes to public procurement in the UK.
For more information, please contact our public sector team.
