The National Procurement Policy Statement – an opportunity for mission driven procurement?

Charlie Miller and Suhan Rajkumar examine the reasons behind the Cabinet Office’s survey on a new National Procurement Policy Statement.

The Procurement Act 2023, which promises a major overhaul of public procurement law, will now take effect on 24 February 2025. It had previously been due to go live on 28 October 2024 but was delayed by the new Labour Government in early September (as we explained previously).

The reason given for the delay was the Government’s desire to redraft the National Procurement Policy Statement (NPPS). The NPPS sets out the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement, and how government departments, local authorities, non-department public bodies and other contracting authorities can support their delivery. The NPPS could be a powerful tool: as mandated by section 13 of the Procurement Act 2023, all contracting authorities have to have regard to it when conducting public procurements.

The Government has said that it wants the new public procurement regime to commence “with a statutory NPPS that meets the challenge of applying the full potential of public procurement to deliver value for money, economic growth, and social value”. It has also said that it would like the new framework overall to “deliver greater value for money and improved social value, which will help raise standards, drive economic growth and open up public procurement to new entrants such as small businesses and social enterprises”.

To this end, the Cabinet Office are now inviting contributions to the development of the new NPPS through a dedicated NPPS survey which is open until midday on Monday 4 November 2024. It can be found here: The National Procurement Policy Statement Survey (smartsurvey.co.uk).

The Cabinet Office have said that the survey is structured around four open questions “designed to prompt ideas and insights from stakeholders and experts on how best to shape the NPPS to support a new, mission-driven approach to public procurement through increased value for money, social value, innovation and collaboration”.

The Government has been clear that it would like public procurement to further its missions – of economic growth, Britain as a clean energy superpower, reducing crime, and supporting the NHS. If the NPPS is intended to apply these missions to public procurement, it could significantly impact how public bodies procure goods and services – offering opportunities for charities and mission-driven suppliers, but at risk of increasing the regulatory burden on public bodies.

Whether you are a contracting authority or a supplier, if you have a view about the Government’s strategic priorities for public procurement in this country, we would encourage you to complete the survey, which looks short and straightforward to complete.

Our team of public procurement specialists, with expertise in advising Government bodies, local authorities, and charities and social enterprises will be carefully considering how a new NPPS could impact our clients, and will carefully review the new NPPS once it is released. Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like to discuss the survey and how to respond, or if we can support with your preparations for the implementation of the new Procurement Act in February 2025.

Charlie Miller and Suhan Rajkumar are Senior Associates at Bates Wells.