A Guide To The Latest Changes to Procurement Law

If you are an interior designer who designs buildings for public bodies, you will know the importance of bidding for these public contracts and the procurement rules which apply throughout the tender process. The procurement regime changed earlier this year when the Procurement Act 2023 came into force in February 2025. Read on to find out more about some of the key changes that are relevant for interior designers. 

What is the Procurement Act 2023?
The Procurement Act 2023 simplifies the existing procurement regime by effectively amalgamating four previous, EU-based regulations: the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016, the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016, and the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011. It contains a variety of rules which apply to both suppliers and government bodies when entering into and performing public contracts. 

The Procurement Act 2023 will be relevant to interior designers, and interior design businesses of any size, when they are bidding for government work, such as contracts for schools, hospitals, and government offices. Any tendering process for a public contract above certain value thresholds which has commenced after 24th February 2025 should comply with these regulations. It is important that all individuals and businesses who work for and supply public bodies, including interior designers, know about the changes implemented by the Procurement Act.
The Act aims to modify how government bodies buy services and improve the process for suppliers like you, many of which are small businesses. Its goals include increasing accountability and transparency, raising standards, and simplifying the bidding process. 

What has the Procurement Act 2023 changed? 
The Procurement Act makes a number of changes to the bidding and contract award process for both suppliers and contracting bodies. The key elements that interior designers should know about, and their changes, include: 

Competitive Tendering Procedure

What it is: 
The competitive tendering procedure is the process by which different suppliers bid for the same public contract. It establishes value for money, transparency, and integrity. Contracting authorities must choose one of two types of competitive procedure: the open procedure or the competitive flexible procedure.
In an open procedure, every interested designer can submit a tender. The government body will then use these tenders to pick their winning bidder. However, a competitive flexible procedure allows government bodies to choose any procedure that they believe is appropriate. 

Changes:
It is intended that the new regime will simplify the process of tendering for public contracts by simplifying the routes to market available to bidders and providing contracting authorities with greater flexibility through the competitive flexible procedure. Stewart Morrison, partner and head of Procurement at HCR Law, gives the following advice: 
“The Procurement Act 2023 is likely to lead to evolution as opposed to revolution in the manner in which public sector contracts are awarded. I would expect to see tendering processes that look similar to the processes run under the previous regulations in the first instance before the public sector seeks to embrace the potential new flexibilities afforded to it under the new regime”.

Debarment

What it is:
The debarment list is a list of bidders who may be prevented from competing for or being awarded future public contracts. It lists their name, the grounds that they are excluded on, and how long they will be on the debarment list for. The debarment list is centrally managed, and government bodies must check whether their winning suppliers are on it. 
Interior designers may be put on this list due to their behaviour when fulfilling contracts. For instance, you may be put on this list if you put yourself at an unfair advantage, provide inaccurate information, are not compliant with regulations, or do not fulfil a contract. A full list of these exclusions is available online. Some of these exclusion grounds are mandatory and others are discretionary. Government bodies are not allowed to award contracts to interior designers who have been put on the debarment list on mandatory exclusion grounds. 
Debarment intends to reduce risk for government bodies when they are looking to award a contract and encourage bidding companies like yours to improve their compliance. 

Changes:
The Procurement Act 2023 creates a published and centralised debarment list on the government website, with ministers having full power to place a supplier on this list. This debarment list applies to all covered procurements. It also broadens the number of supplier exclusion grounds. Debarment reports will now be published online so that contracting bodies can make their own decisions about potential suppliers who have been investigated. 

Remedies: Contract Award Notices, Standstill Period and Automatic Suspension

What they are:
Breaches of the Procurement Act 2023 (or the associated Procurement Regulations 2024) by a contracting authority can be challenged by suppliers, including interior designers. 
The remedies available on a successful challenge include damages, an order setting aside the decision of the public body or an order setting aside the contract, meaning that it has no effect. 
It is important to note that the limitation period which applies to procurement challenges is just 30 days from the date on which the supplier looking to bring a challenge had knowledge (or ought to have had knowledge) that the grounds for a claim have arisen. Interior designers should therefore act promptly if they are concerned that anything has gone wrong in the procurement process. 

A bidder who has been unsuccessful in a procurement might want to challenge the award of a public contract to another supplier. The procurement rules require contracting bodies to implement a standstill period after publication of the contract award notice informing bidders of the outcome of the procurement. During this standstill period, the public body is prevented from entering into the contract with the winning bidder in order to allow disappointed bidders to consider whether to bring a challenge. Significantly, if a legal claim is issued during the standstill period, an automatic suspension is implemented preventing the public body from entering into the contract unless they obtain an order from the court. 

Changes:
The remedies available under the Procurement Act 2023 are the same as the previous regulations. However, suppliers should be aware that the standstill period under the Act is now 8 working days (as opposed to 10 days under the previous rules). If proceedings are not issued within the 8 working day period the contracting authority is at liberty to enter into the contract.
The Act also introduces a new statutory test to be applied by the court in deciding whether or not to lift the automatic suspension – i.e. whether to allow the public body to enter into the contract with the winning bidder before the challenge has been determined. This is important because if the public body is allowed to enter into the contract, the only remedy available to the disappointed bidder will be damages – it will have lost the opportunity to be awarded the contract. This test takes into account the interests of both suppliers and the public interest in order to decide whether to allow the contracting authority to enter into the contract. 

Some advice from Stewart Morrison (HCR Law): 
“Of particular note for those looking to challenge the outcome of a procurement, the standstill period within which proceedings need to be issued to prevent the contract from being entered into with the winning bidder is changing from 10 days to 8 working days. This makes it even more important than ever to seek advice immediately if you think that something has gone wrong in process of evaluating tenders and awarding the contract”.

Key Performance Indicators

What they are:
Key performance indicators (KPIs) are factors which assess how you perform during a contract. They are used to create targets which your progress will be measured against. 

Changes: 
The previous procurement regime did not require the use of KPIs but the new Act requires public bodies to set at least three KPIs against which suppliers of public contracts above a certain threshold will be measured. Their introduction marks a significant change given that the previous regulations did not govern the day to day operation of a public contract. KPIs are particularly significant because poor performance against KPIs is one of the new discretionary exclusion grounds meaning that you could be excluded from future tender processes if you do not meet the KPIs.

Stewart Morrison says:
“One of the most notable changes under the Procurement Act 2023 is the introduction of a contract management regime under which contracting authorities will be required to published notices concerning the supplier’s performance of the contract against pre-established Key Performance Indicators. This ongoing monitoring of public contracts and may lead to an increase in procurement disputes, with suppliers seeking to challenge notices of poor performance. This is especially so because a supplier could be excluded from tendering for other public contracts if a poor performance notice has been published about it”.

Contract Performance Notices

What Are They
Contract performance notices inform the public and other contracting bodies about the performance of suppliers. This includes their performance against KPIs, and any failure to fulfil contracts or contract breaches. They can also explain why a contract has been terminated.
These notices are used to advise contracting bodies on each supplier’s performance and can help them to make a more informed choice on the suppliers that they award contracts to. In the future, this information will be placed in a centralised contract performance register that will be accessible to all contractors. 

Changes
The concept of contract performance notices requiring information to be published on a central digital platform about the performance of a public contract is new under the Act. This means that as well as being measured against KPIs during the course of a public contract, a notice detailing the supplier’s performance will also be published on an annual basis. This increases transparency and may also lead to challenges against public authorities if a supplier does not agree with the assessment of its performance.

Performance notices will also be published in respect of contract breaches and failure to fulfil contracts and the publication of such notices may risk a supplier being excluded from other public contracts. 

Further Information
If you are looking for further information, you can download the Procurement Act 2023- Guidance Documents online. 
Disclaimer – This article has been created from government guidelines so that interior designers can find out about relevant changes to Procurement Law. The BIID takes no responsibility for the compliance of Interior Designers and Procurement Act 2023 based on this document.