Tightened Payment Terms for Public Procurement Suppliers
The UK government's new tightened payment terms for suppliers in public procurement contracts signals a vital move that will have far-reaching impacts across the business landscape when bidding for contracts.
Far-Reaching Scope of New Public Payment Rules
The new Procurement Policy Note 10/23 (PPN) will require suppliers bidding on government contracts to prove they pay 95% of invoices in 60 ...
Navigating Changes in Healthcare Service Provider Selection
The Provider Selection Regime (PSR) is set to come into force on January 1, 2024, introducing new rules for procuring healthcare services in England. As a supplier, you need to understand these changes and how they may impact you.
When Does The PSR Take Effect?
The PSR will come into force on January 1, 2024, replacing current healthcare ...
Changing Landscape of UK Defence Contracting
Government procurement always involves navigating complex regulations, but few areas are more intricate than defence acquisitions. In our previous article, "EU's First Joint Defence Procurement Deal", we describe details about the European Defence Industry Reinforcement through Common Procurement Agreement (EDIRPA). EDIRPA seeks to address the longstanding fragmentation of demand among EU member states and aims to ...
Assessing the Procurement Act 2023: What’s in Store for UK SMEs?
The Procurement Bill recently received Royal Assent on 26 October, becoming the Procurement Act 2023. This legislation represents one of the most substantial overhauls of the UK's public procurement system in decades. While now law, the Act's provisions still need to be fully in force.
Full implementation is expected in October 2024 after a transition period.
We have ...
Rebuilding Ukraine: How Businesses Can Leverage the DREAM Platform for Impact and Opportunity
Businesses looking to enter and grow in the promising Ukrainian market should consider leveraging the new Digital Reconstruction Ecosystem for Accountable Management (DREAM) system. This digital platform offers a transparent, efficient way for businesses to participate in Ukraine's massive reconstruction efforts as the country rebuilds from the destruction of war.
Transparency and Accountability Through DREAM
With damage estimates ...
What the New UK Procurement Bill Means for Suppliers
The UK's upcoming Procurement Bill, designed to reshape the post-Brexit public procurement system, is entering its final legislative phase. The House of Lords is reviewing amendments proposed by the Commons, with the next session scheduled for October 24, 2023. This stage is the last hurdle before the bill becomes law.
The anticipated launch date for the new ...
Improving Supplier Performance through Data.
One of the most potent tools at the disposal of government buyers, is procurement data, which can be used to improve supplier performance, forge stronger partnerships, and elevate overall business success. The Supplier Performance ChallengeSuppliers are the lifeblood of any government, providing the goods, services, and resources needed. However, managing a diverse and evolving supplier ...
Why SMEs Should Do Business With Government.
For many SME’s, doing business with government is not high on their prospecting list. In the media, much of the coverage around government suppliers tends to be about big consultancies and major multinational technology companies. It’s understandable then that many smaller businesses would consider becoming a supplier to government highly unlikely.
But in recent years, many governments ...
Zombie Tenders Continue To Rise
Public sector contracting in Europe continues to demonstrate worrying levels of uncompetitive tendering. Across 2022/23 nearly one in three reported contracts were let having received just one bid.
This amounted to nearly half a million contracts, with many more contracts unreported, this number could be higher still.
We call these zombie tenders and it is worth putting them ...
Denial Of Service By Wall Of Text
Clarkesworld Magazine is a publisher of science fiction short stories. They accept and pay for submissions from anyone. As of last week, they closed submissions due to an overwhelming influx of spam submissions that appear to have been generated by AI algorithms.
Editor Neil Clarke's article, A Concerning Trend outlines the incident and includes this graph showing ...
Tackling Modern Slavery in Supply Chains – Guidance
On 26 March 2020, the UK became the first country to publish a Government Modern Slavery Statement, setting out the steps government was taking to identify and prevent modern slavery in its own supply chains.
In November 2021, Ministerial departments published their own annual modern slavery statements, setting out the steps they’ve taken to address modern slavery ...
EU Awards New Gas Aggregation Contract
In December 2022, EU energy ministers agreed to create a platform for the collective demand aggregation and joint procurement of gas, with a goal of providing up to 15% of gas, to fill each member country's storage facilities up to 90% of capacity.
The platform will allow gas companies to contract either jointly or individually.
This week, the ...
Babcock Lands Polish Defence Contracts.
The UK Government has this week signed major major defence equipment agreements with Poland’s military capability.
At the Zamość Military Base in Poland this week, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence Mariusz Błaszczak signed an Air Defence Complex Weapons Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). This enables the UK and ...
Blacklisting Gets Tested.
Back in June we wrote about blacklisting of suppliers and the Government’s intention to prevent poorly performing suppliers from bidding for government contracts. We mentioned the subject of Bain and Company and made it clear that Ministers would need to be ready to defend their decisions when debarring companies.
“It won’t be hard for lawyers to draft ...
Bain’s Woes in RSA Raises Questions in Parliament
Last week in a Lords Chamber debate, Lord Peter Hain asked why Bain & Company were still able to bid for multi-million-pound UK contracts “when the company has recently been found by a South African judicial inquiry to be guilty of unlawful complicity in corruption under former President Zuma?”
Hain is referencing the judicial commission’s findings on ...