Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 10
10
Accepted
Significant gaps in public procurement data quality and completeness remain despite ongoing improvements.
Recommendation
While government is moving towards improving the quality and completeness of public procurement data, there remain significant gaps in the data.20 The Cabinet Office told us that government expects the Procurement Act to help address data issues, alongside the implementation of a single supplier information database.21 The Cabinet Office highlighted that the Procurement Act creates new reporting obligations for contracting authorities that were not previously caught by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.22
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the recommendation to address significant data gaps, stating that new legal requirements under the Procurement Act will mandate data upload to a central digital platform by Spring 2025, with secondary legislation laid in Spring 2024 and supporting guidance.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
1.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Target implementation date: Spring 2025 1.2 Much of the requested data will now be required as standard as part of the Procurement Act. Contracting authorities will have clear legal requirements to upload information on procurements to the central digital platform within certain timescales, this includes publishing contract award notices for above threshold contracts (those generally above £213,000), contract details for contracts over £5 million, Key Performance Indicators for contracts over £5 million. This list is not exhaustive and will be achieved via the submission of notices within the system - simply put, if a contract authority does not upload a particular notice, it will be in breach of statutory requirements in a way that is not the case now. The requirements for notices will be set out via secondary legislation, expected to be laid in Spring 2024. The Cabinet Office will publish a range of guidance notes and provide learning and development materials setting out these requirements.