A single new registration platform replaced years of fragmented portals overnight. Suppliers who haven't adapted are missing opportunities they'd otherwise be well placed to win.
What changed, and when
The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025, replacing much of the previous EU-derived procurement framework across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Existing contracts and procurements already underway before that date continue under the old regime — the new rules apply only to procurements started on or after 24 February 2025.
The Central Digital Platform
At the heart of the reform is the Central Digital Platform (CDP), built on an enhanced version of the Find a Tender Service. Suppliers register once and reuse their core business details across multiple bids, rather than re-entering the same information on separate portals for every tender. The platform also introduced a contract suitability filter designed to help small and medium enterprises and voluntary/community/social enterprises find genuinely relevant opportunities faster.
New transparency requirements worth planning around
Contracting authorities must now publish pipeline notices for planned contracts over £2 million, giving suppliers up to 18 months of advance visibility into upcoming opportunities rather than discovering them only when formally advertised. For contracts over £5 million, ongoing contract performance data must also be published throughout the contract's life — a level of public visibility into supplier performance that didn't previously exist in a structured, centralized way.
Social value now follows through the full contract, not just the bid
Social value scoring isn't new, but the Procurement Act 2023 shifts its emphasis from bid-stage commitments to actual delivery, accountability, and measurable outcomes across the full contract lifecycle. In-scope authorities are also required to set specific SME and voluntary/community/social enterprise spend targets — central government departments must set a three-year SME spend target from April 2025 and a two-year target for voluntary/community/social enterprises from April 2026.
What hasn't fully rolled out yet
Not every element of the Act was live from day one. As of late 2025, some local authorities were still working through requirements like publishing payments compliance information and payments over £30,000, which wasn't yet in force at some councils even months after go-live. Don't assume every provision is being uniformly enforced everywhere immediately — check the specific contracting authority's own implementation status if a particular transparency requirement matters to your bid strategy.
How to actually prepare
- Register on the Central Digital Platform (via the enhanced Find a Tender Service) if you haven't already, and keep your core business details current.
- Set up pipeline notice alerts for contract categories relevant to your business, taking advantage of the up-to-18-month advance visibility for contracts over £2 million.
- Review how your social value commitments will actually be delivered and measured throughout a contract, not just how they'll be scored at bid stage.
- If your business is an SME or VCSE, use the platform's contract suitability filter to surface opportunities aligned with the new spend targets.
- Confirm whether a specific procurement you're bidding on falls under the new Act or the previous regime, since this depends on when the procurement itself started, not just today's date.
What this means practically
- Registration on the Central Digital Platform is now foundational — a single profile feeds multiple bids instead of re-entering details on separate portals.
- Pipeline notices for contracts over £2 million give real advance warning — building a watch list now is worth the setup time.
- Social value is increasingly judged on delivery and measurable outcomes, not just what was promised at bid stage.
- Implementation is still uneven across some local authorities for newer transparency requirements — check the specific authority's status rather than assuming uniform enforcement.
Sources
- Open Contracting Partnership — UK Procurement Act implementation, first three months of data: open-contracting.org
- Social Value Portal — The Procurement Act 2023 & Social Value, updated for 2026: socialvalueportal.com
Related Kibbo Tools
- Public Procurement Bid Checklist — confirm registration, certifications, and documentation before submitting a UK public sector bid.
- Public Procurement Portals Directory — direct link to Find a Tender and the Central Digital Platform.