Procurement Act 2023: what suppliers and SMEs need to know

Register once on the Central Digital Platform

Suppliers enter core information (basic details, economic and financial standing, connected persons and exclusions) on the Central Digital Platform via Find a Tender, then share it with buyers using a share code. Keep it up to date.

Since 1 April 2026, buyers must also confirm that a supplier awarded a notifiable below-threshold contract (from £12,000 including VAT for central government and NHS bodies, or £30,000 for other contracting authorities) is registered, and publish its unique identifier. For those contracts only a short basic registration is needed. This does not apply to procurements regulated by the Welsh Ministers. Our Central Digital Platform registration guide walks through it.

Selection: the PSQ and conditions of participation

Buyers use the Procurement Specific Questionnaire plus their own conditions of participation. This is where written policies are requested as evidence. See which policies tenders ask for and our PSQ guide.

Key changes that affect SMEs

• ●Barriers to SMEs: contracting authorities must have regard to the barriers SMEs may face and consider whether these can be removed or reduced (s.12(4)).
• ●New procedures: the open procedure and the competitive flexible procedure (s.20).
• ●Exclusions and debarment: mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds (s.57, Schedules 6 and 7) and a central debarment list.
• ●30-day payment: implied payment terms in public contracts (s.68) that also flow down to public sub-contracts (s.73).
• ●KPIs: at least three KPIs for most contracts over £5m (s.52), with performance assessed and published at least every 12 months.
• ●More transparency: for contracts procured from 1 April 2026, buyers publish quarterly information on payments over £30,000 (s.70), and contract performance notices have been in use since January 2026 (s.71).

Practical checklist for SMEs

• ●Register on Find a Tender and complete your core supplier information.
• ●Get your core policies signed, dated and current. Use the tender policy checklist.
• ●Prepare evidence for exclusion questions: if something has gone wrong, document what you changed.
• ●Watch Find a Tender for new opportunities. Contracts Finder still carries notices for procurements started under the old rules while it is wound down, so check both for now, and look at Crown Commercial Service frameworks.
• ●Run the free tender policy checker against your next opportunity to spot gaps early.

Frequently asked questions