Public procurement post-Brexit: where are we now?

• Considers what might be included in a future Procurement Bill now EU Directives no longer apply.
• The government wants to simplify UK procurement law and procedures, and add flexibility and innovation where possible.

Prior to the Brexit referendum in 2016, the Leave campaign identified public procurement as an area of EU-based law ripe for reform. They argued that ‘EU public procurement law imposes extremely onerous requirements on public authorities’. Public procurement is estimated to account for a staggering 13% of UK GDP.

In December 2020, the government published its green paper entitled ‘Transforming public procurement’. The paper coincided with the end of the transition period under the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement. It opened a consultation on proposed reform to the laws on public procurement now that the UK could unshackle itself from the EU Directives on Public Procurement.

While the government is officially still reviewing stakeholder feedback, the Queen’s Speech of 11 May appears