The Procurement Act 2023 - Practical Implications for Managing Public Contracts from 24 February

Introduction

The Procurement Act 2023 completely transforms the way public contracts are managed.

The Act will regulate the management and entire lifecycle of public contracts. This is in stark contrast to the position under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, where there is no substantive regulation or legislative intervention of this kind.

The Act imposes duties on public authorities throughout the entire performance phase of public contracts, including the application of KPIs, enforcement, and termination decisions. The new requirements under the Act will also provide suppliers with additional opportunities to claim against public bodies.

This webinar will explore these new obligations in detail, discussing how public authorities can navigate the changes, ensuring compliance and managing risks. It will also examine the potential consequences on public authorities and suppliers, such as costs, reputational damage, and commercial impacts for both public authorities and suppliers.

What You Will Learn

This short webinar will cover the following:

• Reminder of the extent to which the contract performance phase is currently regulated by the PCR
• Overview of key differences between the PCR and the Act in regulating and imposing obligations as to the contract performance phase
• The implications of the key performance phase obligations under the Act (e.g. as to the duties to have regard to value, maximising public benefit, sharing information with suppliers, acting with integrity, and removing barriers for SMEs)
• The likely significant impact of common law public law duties on the performance phase obligations
• KPI assessment and publication requirements, and obligations to publish notices in respect of supplier defaults and their importance and effects
• Implied termination rights arising due to supplier default
• The types of contract performance decision that suppliers may challenge under the Act, together with the remedies potentially available in the event of successful challenge
• Practical approaches to managing risk and ensuring compliance when managing public contracts

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Monday 28th April 2025

Alternatively, you can gain access to this webinar and 1,700+ others via the MBL Webinar Subscription. Please email webinarsubscription@mblseminars.com for more details.