Communities of Practice for the Transforming Public Procurement programme

The Procurement Act 2023 will come into force in October 2024 and will create a simpler and more flexible, commercial system. It will embed transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle, and open up public procurement to new entrants such as small business and social enterprises.

The Government Commercial Function has developed a comprehensive learning and development programme to support and prepare those operating within the new Act - this includes Communities of Practice (CoP) for all procurement practitioners.

The CoP will be a fundamental element of the learning and development offer that will prepare and support procurement, commissioning and commercial practitioners for the implementation of the Procurement Act 2023 when it goes live in October 2024.

The CoP are open to all staff whose main role is to run full or parts of  tenders, or let contracts, or procurement & commercial professionals whose main role is to manage suppliers or contracts.

The CoP aim is to:

• Foster a strong community of commercial/procurement professionals in the public sector to elevate procurement capabilities.
• Support existing locally-managed commercial/procurement communities of practice across organisations and sectors.
• Provide a platform enabling peer support and best practice creation and sharing.
• Foster the discussions that identify trends, challenges, and risks in procurement practices.
• Encourage the application of best practices within the new Act by procurement, commercial, and commissioning professionals.
• Identify opportunities for continuous improvement in procurement practices within organisations, sectors, or regions.

The Cabinet Office have structured the CoP to operate on both a central and at a local level:

• A centrally managed CoP will be facilitated by the Government Commercial Function (GCF). A dedicated CoP homepage has been created and is accessible via the Government Commercial College (GCC). 
• This homepage hosts an interactive, online forum that includes dedicated sections on all aspects of the new regime, including (but not limited to) transitions, transparency, framework/dynamic markets and innovation. 
• The centrally managed CoP will also offer online community meet-ups that cover key priority themes and changes brought in by the new Act.
• CoP are also established and facilitated locally, with support offered by the GCF. Locally managed and facilitated CoP deliver online meet-ups and offer sector or organisation-specific support.

Procurement practitioners can get involved in the CoP in the following ways:

• Join and participate in our online forum, available on the GCC website.
• Attend our centrally delivered CoP events. All of our events will be published on the CoP GCC page. New events will be published and registration will be open 6 weeks in advance.  
• Contact your Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to find out more about your locally managed CoPs. A list of SPOCs is available in the Useful Resources section of the CoP homepage on the GCC.
• Ask your SPOC who your organisational superusers are and collaborate with them to provide feedback to our team.
• If you experience any issues in accessing the E-Learning via the GCC, please contact gcftpp-busops@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

An explainer animation is available to view and share: https://youtu.be/X9RlTWXJhsE

In addition to this, an information leaflet is available to download here.