Key Facts

• Light-touch provisions allow special treatment for certain public contracts, including social, healthcare, and legal services.
• Common procurement vocabulary codes will be used to identify specific services under light-touch contracts.
• Contracting authorities must openly advertise light-touch contracts unless a direct award ground applies.
• Clause 11 requires covered procurement to be carried out solely in accordance with the Procurement Bill.
• Contracting authorities must use procedures specified in clauses 19, 41, 43, and 45 of the bill for different forms of procurement.
• Suppliers can seek remedies under part 9 if a contracting authority materially fails to follow the requirements set out in the bill.
• Social Enterprise UK estimates missed £700 billion-worth of opportunities for economic, social and environmental value between 2010 and 2020.
• The amendment would require contracting authorities to consider social value in procurement objectives.
• Cammell Laird's suitability for building the Mersey ferries highlights local job creation and community benefits.
• The amendments aim to add 'public value' as a procurement objective.
• £3 billion is spent annually on procurement by the UK Government.
• 92% of respondents agreed with enshrining procurement principles in law during a government consultation.
• The UK dropped five points on Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index from 11th to 18th globally.
• Blackman advocates for the inclusion of transparency and anti-corruption measures in clause 12.
• She emphasizes the importance of integrating net zero climate change commitments into procurement decisions.
• Amendment 9 seeks to replace value for money with a new duty on social value.
• Amendment 10 is considered unnecessary as public benefit already allows for socioeconomic development considerations.
• Amendment 101 aims to add transparency and anti-corruption efforts to procurement objectives.
• The Procurement Bill includes greater requirements for publishing information on an online platform.
• Ukraine advised UK Government when formulating procurement ideas.
• Contracting authorities must consider integrity, preventing fraud and corruption, conflicts of interest, and exclusion of inappropriate suppliers.
• Clause 12 does not define value for money to allow flexibility.
• Amendment 1 would insert 'and co-operative societies' after 'enterprises'.
• Amendments 2, 3, and 90 aim to include cooperative societies in various sections of the Procurement Bill.
• Amendments 90 and 91 focus on ensuring charities are considered during procurement processes.
• There are over 7,000 co-operatives across the UK employing 250,000 people.
• Co-operatives contribute nearly £40 billion annually to the UK economy.
• The number of independent co-ops grew by 1.2% in 2020 despite the impact of covid.
• Only 1.5% of co-ops were dissolved compared with 6.5% of businesses in the wider economy that year.
• The Government spent £11.6 billion on contracts with charities alone in 2019-20.
• Amendments 90 and 91 seek to amend clauses 12 and 16 of the Procurement Bill.
• Clause 12 sets out procurement principles including value for money, public benefit, information sharing, and integrity.
• Charities and co-operative societies are discussed in relation to their participation in procurement processes.
• Amendment 22 would require the Government to publish a national procurement policy statement.
• Burghart assures that the Government intends to publish an NPPS, which will be flexible and may include updates or withdrawals based on strategic priorities.
• Amendments propose adding cyber security, national security, fair treatment of workers, and measures against modern slavery, genocide, and crimes against humanity as procurement principles.
• Amendments 28 and 29 aim to overturn Lords amendment 46.
• The Government believes most of the principles are already core elements of the procurement regime.
• Clause 13 mandates due regard to important principles before publication of the NPPS.
• During the pandemic, billions of pounds of personal protective equipment were written off due to lack of transparency.
• Just over £10 million was clawed back from fraudulent PPE contracts during the pandemic as of Christmas.
• The UK is now the third most targeted country for cyber-attacks after the USA and Ukraine.
• Amendment 7 would introduce cyber-security as a strategic national priority in procurement policy.
• Amendment 11 relates to incorporating national security into procurement policy.
• Amendment 28 opposes new clause 2 and removes important principles from the Bill.
• Amendments 7 and 11 address cyber-security risks facing the UK.
• Amendment 107 focuses on fair treatment of workers in public spending decisions.
• Clause 13(4) includes achieving targets set under the Climate Change Act 2008 and the Environment Act 2021 as strategic priorities.
• £1 in every £3 of public money is spent on public contracts.
• Amendment 29 aims to minimize fraud, waste or abuse of public money.
• Amendment 105 seeks to prevent grants of procurement contracts to suppliers involved in modern slavery, genocide, or crimes against humanity.
• Amendment 7 seeks to add 'cyber security' to the list of principles for national procurement policy.
• Amendment 105 aims to prevent contracts from being awarded to suppliers involved in modern slavery, genocide, or crimes against humanity.
• The Bill already contains exclusion grounds that target serious risks such as modern slavery and a debarment regime allowing Ministers to exclude suppliers with misconduct issues.
• The Procurement Bill is a result of joint work between Westminster and Cardiff.
• Burghart hopes colleagues in Holyrood will join the effort.
• The bill aims to create a new procurement landscape taking advantage of post-Brexit opportunities.
• Clause 15 allows for reduced tender periods if a notice is published at least 40 days but no longer than one year before the tender notice.
• The notices can reduce procurement times from up to 25 days to a minimum of 10 days.
• SMEs and charities are expected to benefit significantly from these planned procurement notices.