The Procurement Act 2023: what changed for suppliers
The Procurement Act 2023 has governed new public procurements in England, Wales and Northern Ireland since 24 February 2025, and by TRINTA's count of Find a Tender, 88.2% of the 13,237 calls for tenders published there from January to September 2026 ran under it. For a supplier it means one registration on Find a Tender, the Central Digital Platform; two competitive procedures, the open and the competitive flexible; notices from pipeline to termination; new thresholds from 1 January 2026; and payment within 30 days implied into public contracts. Where to find the notices and how to bid, step by step, is on the UK country page.
The Act and its regulations were read on legislation.gov.uk, the guidance on GOV.UK and the notice types on Find a Tender, on 12 October 2026. The figures are TRINTA's count of the Find a Tender open data (OCDS), harvested 12 October 2026.
When it applies, and where
Section 20 of the Act, which defines its competitive procedures, is recorded on legislation.gov.uk as in force from 24 February 2025, and Find a Tender lists the Act, the Procurement Regulations 2024 and the Procurement (Wales) Regulations 2024 as the legislation that applies in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to new procurements from that day.
The Cabinet Office's guidance on transitional arrangements states the principle: a procurement commenced after the Act came into force is run by reference to the Act only, and one commenced under the previous legislation (the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016, the Concession Regulations 2016 and the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011) continues under it.
Scotland is the exception. Find a Tender lists the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, the Concession Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016, the Utilities Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2016, the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and the Procurement (Scotland) Regulations 2016 as the legislation that applies there. The notices show it:
| Nation of the buyer | Calls for tenders | Under the Act | Another legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 10,262 | 9,808 | 454 |
| Wales | 1,090 | 1,074 | 16 |
| Scotland | 1,008 | 48 | 960 |
| Northern Ireland | 724 | 718 | 6 |
| No UK region | 153 | 32 | 121 |
One row per notice number, by release date. A notice under the older regulations states an EU directive as its legal basis; the nation is the ITL region of the buyer's address. Scotland's below-threshold notices are not published on Find a Tender, so its count is the above-threshold part only.
One registration: Find a Tender, the Central Digital Platform
The Cabinet Office calls the Central Digital Platform "also known as Find a Tender": a supplier registers its organisation there with a GOV.UK One Login, and the platform is free to use for everyone. You can register at any time, but only need to at the point you want to bid for a contract.
An account on the old Find a Tender does not carry over: suppliers re-register, and with the same email address their saved searches come across. The supplier information it asks for includes the Companies House number if there is one, the most recent two years of accounts, the people or businesses connected to the organisation, and any convictions or offences. The registration gives the organisation a unique identifier, which it shares with the contracting authority before being awarded a contract; in Wales it is also uploaded to the supplier's Sell2Wales profile.
The registration, step by step, with the page each step was read on.
Two competitive procedures
Section 20(2) defines a competitive tendering procedure as either a single-stage procedure without a restriction on who can submit tenders, the open procedure, or such other competitive tendering procedure as the contracting authority considers appropriate, the competitive flexible procedure. The Cabinet Office's guide for suppliers presents the second as the new procedure that makes it easier to bid, negotiate and work in partnership with the public sector, beside more open commercial frameworks and bid assessments for final tenders.
On Find a Tender, of the 6,675 above-threshold calls for tenders under the Act from January to September 2026, 4,495 (67.3%) named the open procedure and 2,180 (32.6%) the competitive flexible procedure.
Notices from pipeline to termination
Find a Tender says that above-threshold notices outside Scotland now cover the full life cycle of contracts, from pipeline to termination, and its own list of the Act's notice types says what each one does:
A UK1 pipeline notice is published about potential future contracts, and is required from a contracting authority that expects to pay more than £100 million under relevant contracts in the coming financial year, for each contract over £2 million it intends to advertise in the 18 months from 1 April (section 93); a UK3 planned procurement notice gives early information and can shorten the minimum tendering period; a UK4 tender notice advertises the competition; a UK5 transparency notice comes before a direct award; a UK6 contract award notice comes after the award decision and before signature; a UK7 contract details notice follows signature, within 30 days above threshold (120 for light-touch contracts); UK9, UK10 and UK11 report performance against KPIs, changes and termination.
| Notice | What it is | Published |
|---|---|---|
| UK4 | Tender notice | 11,680 |
| UK5 | Transparency notice, before a direct award | 2,420 |
| UK6 | Contract award notice | 9,994 |
| UK7 | Contract details notice | 29,566 |
Counted by TRINTA on the Find a Tender OCDS releases, one per notice number and by release date. UK7 includes the contract details notices of below-threshold contracts, which the Act also requires. The pipeline, planning, performance, change and termination notices were not counted.
Time limits and the standstill
Section 54 sets the minimum tendering periods. Where tenders may be submitted electronically and the tender notice and all its documents are provided at the same time, the minimum is 25 days; 30 days if they are not all provided at once; and where tenders cannot be submitted electronically, 30 or 35 days. Shorter periods apply in listed cases, among them 10 days after a qualifying planned procurement notice.
Section 51 sets the mandatory standstill period: 8 working days beginning with the day the contract award notice is published, before which the contract may not be entered into, with exceptions the section lists (frameworks, dynamic markets and light touch contracts among them).
In practice, on Find a Tender from January to September 2026, the median open procedure above threshold left 30 days between publication and the deadline for tenders (4,472 notices), and the median below-threshold open competition 26 days (4,996 notices).
Thresholds from 1 January 2026
Schedule 1 sets the thresholds that decide the value above which a contract is regulated by the Act's substantive regime. S.I. 2025/1200 replaced them from 1 January 2026, and nothing in it affects a procurement commenced before that day.
| Contract | Threshold |
|---|---|
| Goods, services or works for a central government authority | £135,018 |
| Goods, services or works for a sub-central government authority | £207,720 |
| Works contracts | £5,193,000 |
| Light touch contracts | £663,540 |
| Concession contracts | £5,193,000 |
| Utilities contracts, other than works and light touch | £415,440 |
| Utilities works contracts | £5,193,000 |
| Defence and security contracts, other than works and concessions | £415,440 |
Rows 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of the table in Schedule 1, paragraph 1(1), as legislation.gov.uk printed it on 12 October 2026.
Below the thresholds the Act still reaches. A notifiable below-threshold contract is one of £12,000 or more for a central government authority that is not a devolved Welsh authority, and £30,000 or more otherwise (section 87(4)); a contracting authority may not advertise one without first publishing a below-threshold tender notice (section 87(1)), and may not restrict who tenders by assessing their suitability to perform the contract (section 85(1)), except for works above the central and sub-central amounts. Of the calls for tenders under the Act on Find a Tender from January to September 2026, 42.8% were below threshold.
Payment within 30 days
Section 68 implies payment terms into every public contract except a concession contract, a utilities contract awarded by a private utility and a contract awarded by a school: a sum due must be paid before the end of 30 days from the day the invoice is received, or the day payment falls due under it if later, unless the authority considers the invoice invalid or disputes it. The Cabinet Office's guide for suppliers presents it as 30-day payment terms on a broader range of public sector contracts.
What Find a Tender shows, January to September 2026
13,237 calls for tenders, 88.2% of them under the Act. 10.7% of the 16,033 competed lots awarded in the same months drew a single bid, the median lot 5: code by code and buyer by buyer. 60.9% of the winners whose award notice states their size were SMEs, 43,875 of 71,953, each counted once per procurement.
Every count is TRINTA's, on the Find a Tender OCDS releases by release date, one per notice number; the four nations, the CPV divisions and every caveat are on the UK page.
Frequently asked questions
01When did the Procurement Act 2023 come into force?
On 24 February 2025, for new procurements in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. A procurement commenced before that day under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 or the other previous regulations continues under them, which is why 11.7% of the calls for tenders on Find a Tender from January to September 2026 still stated an EU directive as their legal basis.
02Does the Procurement Act 2023 apply in Scotland?
Not to Scotland's own procurement: Find a Tender lists the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 and the other Scottish rules as the legislation that applies there. Of the 1,008 Scottish calls for tenders on Find a Tender from January to September 2026, 960 stated an EU directive as their legal basis, not the Act.
03Do suppliers have to register on the Central Digital Platform?
To bid under the Act, yes, on Find a Tender, which the Cabinet Office calls the Central Digital Platform. It is free, you only need to register at the point you want to bid, an account on the old Find a Tender has to be registered again, and the unique identifier it gives is shared with the contracting authority before a contract is awarded.
04What is the competitive flexible procedure?
Section 20(2)(b) of the Act: any competitive tendering procedure the contracting authority considers appropriate for awarding the contract, beside the open procedure. It may limit the number of participating suppliers, generally or in particular tendering rounds, and may provide for the refinement of the award criteria under section 24. On Find a Tender it was named by 32.6% of the above-threshold calls for tenders under the Act from January to September 2026.
05What are the Procurement Act thresholds for 2026?
From 1 January 2026: £135,018 for goods, services or works bought by a central government authority, £207,720 for a sub-central authority, £5,193,000 for works and concessions, £663,540 for light touch contracts and £415,440 for utilities goods and services, under Schedule 1 as amended by S.I. 2025/1200.
06How long is the standstill period under the Procurement Act?
8 working days, beginning with the day the contract award notice is published (section 51(2)); the contract may not be entered into before it ends. Frameworks, dynamic markets, light touch contracts and some direct awards are outside the mandatory period, and a voluntary one cannot be shorter.
07What payment terms does the Procurement Act 2023 set?
Payment within 30 days of receiving a valid invoice, implied into every public contract except concession contracts, utilities contracts awarded by a private utility and contracts awarded by a school (section 68).
08What is a UK4 tender notice?
The notice that advertises a competition under the Act, by the open procedure or the competitive flexible procedure, including to set up a framework or use a dynamic market. Find a Tender says the normal minimum tendering period above threshold is 25 days where electronic submission is allowed and all the tender documents come with it. TRINTA counted 11,680 UK4 notices from January to September 2026.
How to cite
TRINTA, "Procurement Act 2023: what changed for suppliers", Find a Tender (OCDS), edition 12 October 2026, https://trinta.ai/procurement-act-2023 (accessed [date]).
Sources
- Procurement Act 2023, section 20: competitive tendering procedures2023 c. 54, s. 20. Read on 12 October 2026.
- Procurement Act 2023, section 51: standstill periods on the award of contracts2023 c. 54, s. 51. Read on 12 October 2026.
- Procurement Act 2023, section 54: time limits2023 c. 54, s. 54. Read on 12 October 2026.
- Procurement Act 2023, section 68: implied payment terms in public contracts2023 c. 54, s. 68. Read on 12 October 2026.
- Procurement Act 2023, section 85: regulated below-threshold contracts, procedure2023 c. 54, s. 85. Read on 12 October 2026.
- Procurement Act 2023, section 87: regulated below-threshold contracts, notices2023 c. 54, s. 87. Read on 12 October 2026.
- Procurement Act 2023, section 93: pipeline notices2023 c. 54, s. 93. Read on 12 October 2026.
- Procurement Act 2023, Schedule 1: threshold amounts2023 c. 54, Schedule 1, paragraph 1(1), as amended from 1 January 2026. Read on 12 October 2026.
- The Procurement Act 2023 (Threshold Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2025S.I. 2025/1200. Read on 12 October 2026.
- Guidance: transitional and saving arrangementsCabinet Office, Procurement Act 2023 guidance documents (updated 15 April 2026). Read on 12 October 2026.
- The Procurement Act 2023: a short guide for suppliersCabinet Office, Procurement Act 2023 short guides (updated 23 June 2026). Read on 12 October 2026.
- How to register your organisation and find your unique identifier: a guide for suppliersCabinet Office, Procurement Act 2023 short guides (first published 18 February 2026, updated 23 June 2026). Read on 12 October 2026.
- Find a Tender: Find information on UK public sector procurements and contractsfind-tender.service.gov.uk, About Find a Tender. Read on 12 October 2026.
- Find a Tender: notice typesfind-tender.service.gov.uk, Procurement Act 2023 notice types. Read on 12 October 2026.
- The Procurement Act 2023: key actions for suppliersSell2Wales, help and resources (updated 17 March 2025). Read on 12 October 2026.
- Find a Tender OCDS APIReleases updated from 1 January 2026 to 11 October 2026, read by release date for January to September 2026, harvested 12 October 2026; scripts/fetch-fts-awards.mjs, scripts/gen-fts-market.mjs and scripts/gen-fts-competition.mjs. Open Government Licence v3.0.