Decision details

The new Procurement Act 2023 was implemented by the Government on 24 February 2025. The Legal and Procurement Teams have worked closely with the law firm DLA Piper to re-write our Contract Procedure Rules (CPRs) to ensure the Council is fully compliant to the new legislation. The new legislation imposes many changes in the way we do business with our suppliers for which we have conducted a training regime to ensure appropriate Council staff are fully aware of their responsibilities to ensure compliance throughout the procurement cycle.

The fully updated version of the CPRs was not made available until Thursday 20 February 2025 due to ongoing drafting work as well as the recent publication of legislative guidance and supporting documents which DLA Piper subsequently incorporated into the revised CPRs.  Council regulations state the CPRs must be approved by the Audit and Governance Committee, currently scheduled for 19 March 2025, followed by the Full Council, currently scheduled for 24 April 2025. For this reason we are unable to publish the revised CPRs on all the appropriate web pages, although the requirement is for the Council to be compliant from 24 February 2025.

Decision(s):

The posting of the new CPRs on the Sefton Council intranet and internet be approved, to ensure the Council is compliant with the new Procurement Act 2023.  It is proposed the new  CPRs are posted with a bold header which states “DRAFT COPY AWAITING APPROVAL”.

Reason(s) for the Decision(s):

1)    A delay of up to two months before we can post the new CPRs will mean we are not able to guarantee compliance with the new national regulations.

2)    Procurement activity throughout the Council must be compliant to the new CPRs which will be difficult to control if the  published rules are not up to date.

3)    Due to the higher levels of transparency in the new legislation, there is a risk that Service Teams will make non-compliant procurements which may result in challenges to our procedures and/or commitments to suppliers.

4)    Training of the new Procurement Act 2023 has been provided to Council staff but this has not been specific to the new CPRs of which the details have only been confirmed this week

Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Delay the publishing, subject to approval, of the CPRs on the online services until approval by the Full Council on 24 April 2025.  The risks associated with this option are detailed above.