Avoid Additional Costs and Overhead: How EASi AI Helps Local Authorities Navigate the Procurement Act 2023

Introduction to the Procurement Act 2023

The Procurement Act 2023 represents a landmark reform in the UK’s public procurement landscape, aiming to create a more efficient, transparent, and accountable system. This Act replaces the previous complex regulations with a streamlined framework designed to reduce administrative burdens and enhance the overall procurement process for public sector bodies.

Key Objectives and Features

1. Streamlined Processes: The Act consolidates existing procurement procedures into a single, simplified process. This change is intended to make it easier for public authorities to navigate the procurement landscape, reducing the time and effort required to procure goods and services.
2. Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS): The introduction of DPS allows for more flexible and ongoing procurement processes. Public authorities can now add suppliers throughout the contract period, fostering a more competitive and dynamic market.
3. Enhanced Transparency: Transparency is a cornerstone of the Act, ensuring that the spending of taxpayers’ money can be properly scrutinised. The Act mandates the publication of various notices at different stages of the procurement process, improving visibility and accountability.
4. Support for SMEs and Innovation: The Act simplifies the procurement process for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), making it easier for them to compete for public contracts. Additionally, innovation partnerships are introduced to encourage the development of innovative solutions to meet public needs.
5. Social Value and Sustainability: Public authorities are required to consider social value in their procurement decisions, ensuring that contracts deliver benefits beyond just economic value. The Act also promotes sustainable procurement practices, encouraging the use of environmentally friendly products and services.
6. Digital Transformation: The Act supports the digital transformation of public procurement, leveraging technology to improve efficiency and transparency. The use of digital tools and platforms, such as the enhanced Find a Tender Service (FTS) and the new Supplier Information System (SIS), centralizes procurement data and streamlines processes.

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Likely Overhead Caused by Transparency Notices

While the Procurement Act 2023 aims to create a more efficient and transparent procurement system, the requirement for transparency notices is likely to result in increased operational overhead for public sector bodies.

?Under the previous regulations contracting authorities were required to publish a series of notices throughout the procurement lifecycle, to notify the market of new procurement opportunities, contract awards and changes to contracts. Notices are a means of communicating – with suppliers, other contracting authorities and the wider public – information about procurement activities and intentions. This communication is a cornerstone of transparency.

Under the Procurement Act 2023, notices must still be published throughout the procurement lifecycle. However, there are some key changes:

1. The introduction of?new notices?that cover all stages of the procurement lifecycle, including the contract management phase.
2. An obligation to publish these notices in one place, the?central digital platform?(which may be done through a contracting authority’s existing eSender (electronic procurement portal)).
3. Requirements to publish?commercial data?(as part of these new notices) that will provide additional commercial intelligence to support the design and delivery of procurement strategies.

Understanding the new notice publication requirements and preparing to share this information from the outset of a new procurement will ensure that processes can continue to be undertaken in a timely manner.

Transparency Notices Summary

A summary of the notices publication requirements that apply under the Procurement Act 2023 are as follows. Requirements will apply to most contracting authorities and covered procurements establishing a public contract.

Transparency Notices:

Pipeline notice

Mandatory?(for organisations where spend is ￡100m+ PA). 18-month forward-look at planned procurements ￡2m+ value.

Preliminary market engagement notice

Mandatory?where engagement is anticipated or has taken place (or, explain in tender notice why it hasn’t been published).

Planned procurement notice

Optional and Best Practice Advises the market of an upcoming procurement. A qualifying planned procurement notice can reduce tender timescales.

Tender notice Including to establish a framework and below-threshold notices

Mandatory?(for a competitive procedure) Publish when undertaking an open or competitive flexible procedure (including to establish a framework contract and procuring using a dynamic market(1)) or procuring a regulated below-threshold contract.

Transparency notice

Mandatory?(for a direct award) Publish prior to award when undertaking a direct award.

Contract award notice

Mandatory Publish to communicate the outcome of the procurement and to commence the standstill period prior to awarding a contract under the open or competitive flexible procedure (and voluntary standstill periods for direct awards).

Contract details notice

Mandatory Publish details of the awarded contract (including the contract, for public contracts ￡5m+), inc. regulated below-threshold contracts above a certain value and those procured by direct award.

Contract payment notice

Mandatory Publish details of payments over ￡30,000 made under a public contract (quarterly).

Contract performance notice

Mandatory Publish KPI scores for public contracts ￡5m+ (at least annually). Publish within 30 days of supplier poor performance / breach of contract.

Contract change notice

Mandatory Publish prior to a qualifying modification taking place, inc., for contracts ￡5m+, publication of modification.

Contract termination notice

Mandatory Publish when a public contract is terminated / comes to an end

Procurement termination notice

Mandatory Publish where, after publishing a tender or transparency notice, the process is terminated without awarding a contract.

Dynamic market notices

Mandatory Publish and update when advertising, establishing, changing or terminating a dynamic market (inc. utilities dynamic markets and qualifying utilities dynamic markets).

Payments compliance notice

Mandatory Publish details of performance against 30-day payment terms (twice annually).

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Many authorities will struggle to comply to issue these additional notices without additional manual effort.

Procurement teams will have to either recruit more resources or work under considerably greater stress to meet their obligations.

EASi AI offers a simple solution to this problem.

We provide a fully managed automation platform that replicates the actions that a procurement officer would undertake to issue a notice. Our digital workers operate up to 8x faster than a human worker and cost no more than one employee.

We can use the source data to create and issue the notices to suppliers according to criteria set by the authority ensuring you remain fully compliant and cost effective.

Our platform seamlessly integrates with any back end system (including Excel).?

Using EASi AI allows the authority to comply with the additional overhead whilst keeping a flat (or reduced) headcount.

Our unique platform is specifically designed to provide low-cost access to leading automation technologies in a zero-risk, zero-commitment approach.

Contact us at www.easiai.co.uk or email [email protected]