New Legislative Requirements Under the Procurement Act 2023

Changes Effective from 1 April 2026

Two remaining provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 came into force in January 2026, introducing new transparency and performance reporting requirements for contracting authorities.

Section 69 – Publication of Payment Compliance Notices

(Commencing 1 April 2026 for Welsh authorities)

The UK17 Payment Compliance Notice requires public bodies to report their average payment times for supplier invoices and demonstrate compliance with 30-day payment terms.

Key points:

Reporting is based on a six-month period.

The first reporting period runs from 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026.

The UK17 notice will be available on Find a Tender from 1 April 2026.

Authorities must publish their first UK17 notice by 30 April 2026.

Section 71 – Publication of Contract Performance Assessments (England and Wales)

The UK9 Contract Performance Notice introduces new requirements to publish supplier performance information. It serves two purposes:

Recording supplier performance against key performance indicators (KPIs) for public contracts with an estimated value exceeding £5 million.

Recording instances of significant contract breaches or failures to perform contractual obligations.

These measures strengthen transparency across the procurement lifecycle, providing suppliers and procurement professionals with greater visibility of public sector activity—from pipeline planning and contract award through to payment and contract performance. This information will support better-informed and more strategic decision-making across the public sector.

Communities of Practice

From Pilot to Permanent: Growing Our Procurement Community

We are pleased to announce the evolution of the programme into the new Public Procurement Community.

While you will notice new branding from 1 April 2026, our purpose remains the same: supporting procurement professionals through collaboration, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement.

Our focus continues to be:

Peer-to-Peer Insight – creating opportunities to learn from one another through open discussion and shared experiences.

Problem Solving – identifying common challenges and working together to develop solutions.

Celebrating Success – showcasing the excellent work taking place across departments, organisations and sectors.