The Procurement Act 2023, which was due to come into force from 28 October, will now be delayed to 24 February 2025.

Cabinet Office parliamentary secretary Georgia Gould said: “Under the Act, the previous administration published a National Procurement Policy Statement to which contracting authorities will have to have regard.

“But this statement does not meet the challenge of applying the full potential of public procurement to deliver value for money, economic growth, and social value.

“I have therefore taken the decision to begin the vital work of producing a new National Procurement Policy Statement that clearly sets out this Government’s priorities for public procurement in support of our missions.

“It is crucial that the new regime in the Procurement Act goes live with a bold and ambitious statement that drives delivery of the Government’s missions, and therefore, I am proposing a short delay to the commencement of the Act to February 2025 so this work can be completed.”

The delay was welcomed by both suppliers and contracting authorities who will now have a few extra months to prepare for the new changes being introduced.

European procurement rules will be replaced with new procurement objectives: delivering value for money, maximising public benefit, sharing information and acting and being seen to act with integrity.

The Act introduces open framework agreements, allowing frameworks to be reopened at set intervals. This is a game-changer because it means suppliers won’t be locked out for long periods if they miss out initially.

The Procurement Act also introduces greater flexibility with a choice of two competitive procedures: the single-stage ‘open’ and the multi-stage ‘competitive flexible’ procedures.

Contracting authorities will now have an explicit obligation to “have regard” to the importance of delivering value for money and maximising public benefit in assessing bids.

There are expanded and updated grounds covering exclusion of firms for poor performance in the past of a public contract and environmental misconduct.