Procurement: How we buy what we need

Procurement Reforms

In February 2025, significant new regulations will come into effect that will transform public procurement - the Procurement Act 2023.

This is an important piece of legislation that will change the way the public sector buys goods, services and works. As a supplier to NRW this will impact the way we do business - so you need to know about these changes and our plans to prepare for go-live in February.

The existing rules will continue to apply for contracts that are already in progress, and for procurements started under the current regime, however for all new procurements post February, it is important that you understand the change.

The Cabinet Office, who are leading the Transforming Public Procurement programme, will be providing regular updates, therefore we encourage you to regularly check the dedicated gov.uk page (Transforming Public Procurement - GOV.UK). If you are a Welsh supplier you may want to check the dedicated Welsh Government page (Procurement Act 2023 | GOV.WALES) to see how this affects you directly.

A key objective for the Procurement Act 2023 is to make it easier for suppliers to do business with the public sector - as such there are some core benefits for suppliers once the new regime goes live in February, including:

A central place to register and to store your core business details so that they can be used for multiple bids
Improved transparency and access to information, with all public procurement opportunities in one place - making it easier to search for and set up alerts for procurements of interest to you
Better visibility of procurement plans, engagement events and tender opportunities - including those below threshold - increasing the number of opportunities available to bid on
Greater visibility about who is bidding for, and winning, larger public sector contracts above £5 million, and the details of those public contracts.
Simplified bidding processes to make it easier to bid, negotiate and work in partnership with the public sector - including a new ‘competitive flexible’ procedure.
Frameworks will be more flexible, so prospective suppliers are not shut out for long periods of time.
A new duty on contracting authorities to have regard to the particular barriers facing SMEs and VCSEs, and to consider what can be done to overcome them throughout the procurement lifecycle, helping level the playing field for smaller businesses so they can compete for more contracts.
Strengthened provisions for prompt payment throughout the supply chain - enabling SMEs to benefit from 30 day payment terms on a broader range of public sector contracts.
A stronger exclusions framework will take tougher action on underperforming suppliers.

This is a long-term change, so although these benefits may not be visible on day one - we are confident that the new regime will help break down barriers to entry into procurement.

Our Procurement Team is now working through the necessary training and guidance materials so we are ready to operate under the new regulations and realise the benefits of the new regime when it goes live.

There is already a range of information and resources about the new regime on the Transforming Public Procurement landing page.

If you haven’t already- we strongly recommend you watch the ‘Knowledge Drop’ videos with dedicated versions designed specifically for suppliers, including SME and VCSE suppliers - these will give you a broader understanding of the changes which will be coming.

In the meantime, if you have any queries on the new Procurement Act please email the dedicated Transforming Public Procurement helpdesk or the Welsh Government Reform Team.

Sell to Natural Resources Wales

When buying goods, works and services, our staff may use an existing contract / framework where appropriate to make the process of buying more efficient.

These may be specific contracts for us or other contracts made available to public sector bodies. These include but aren’t limited to:

National Procurement Service: this is a Welsh Government funded central purchasing body. We use various National Procurement Service framework agreements for the things we buy most often.
Crown Commercial Services: is an executive agency of the Cabinet Office providing a set of pre-tendered contracts with a range of suppliers from which public sector customers can purchase
Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation: is a public sector owned professional buying organisation with over 150 frameworks.

Our buying thresholds

Under £5,000

Where no appropriate contract / framework exists, staff may obtain one written quote from suppliers. Staff choose a supplier based on market knowledge.

£5,000 to £25,000 -

Where no appropriate contract / framework exists, staff may obtain three written quote from suppliers. Staff are required to establish competition based on market knowledge. Staff will on occasion use the ‘Quick Quote’ facility within Sell2Wales to advertise low value requirements.

Over £25,000

We advertise all contracts / frameworks on the Sell2Wales website. If you would like to register as a potential supplier to us, please go to the Sell2Wales website. Sell2Wales lists public sector tenders published in Wales. It is a Welsh Government initiative that helps small and medium businesses work successfully with the Welsh public sector.

Purchases above the following thresholds will be subject to the full Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and will be advertised in the Find a Tender Service - Goods and Services - £116,633 (net) and Works - £4,447,447 (net).

Policies

In order to deliver sustainable procurement we are committed to incorporating relevant policies into our procurement processes, including but not limited to:

Payment

Payment of supplier invoices

Procurement Pipeline

If you want to find out about our upcoming contracts and frameworks to be published on Sell2Wales, see the procurement pipeline updates.