Selling to the public sector: An update from the Cabin Office

In October The Institute of Sales Professionals members joined our webinar Selling to public sector to hear from Richard Hassett, Government Senior Policy Lead for the new Public Sector Procurement Act and learned how the new legislation will transform the way that the public sector buy. We also heard from Matt Spencer F.ISP how important it is for Government and Public Sector sellers to effectively interact under the new public sector procurement rules.

 

The Act is due to come into force on the 24th of February and the Cabinet Office are keen to ensure that ISP members have up to date information. They have provided links to the latest information for sellers, insight into the training received by buyers and links to be able to keep up with the latest information as follows:

 

Supplier information leaflet and Knowledge Drops

We have updated our information leaflet for suppliers, which includes a dedicated FAQ. This leaflet, together with our series of ‘Knowledge Drop’ videos, give suppliers a broad understanding of the Procurement Act and the key changes that will come into effect in February 2025. There are also dedicated SME and VCSE videos as part of the series. You can view all Knowledge Drop videos here

 

We have also shared many of the training materials we are providing to public sector buyers. This includes our suite of guidance documents exploring the different elements of the Act which can be found here and the entire contents of our e-learning modules which can be found here.

 

Central Digital Platform

We have published a handy factsheet, which covers key FAQs about the platform for both suppliers and buyers.

 

Supplier information page

To make it easy for suppliers to find this information we have created a dedicated supplier information page on gov.uk. We will continue to add information and links here as we get closer to go-live, so please do encourage your members to bookmark and check back for further updates.

 

CCS pipeline update

Following the change in go-live date, CCS has also provided a commercial pipeline update, outlining which agreements have been transitioned to PCR 2015 and which have been extended.

 

What suppliers can do now

 

In the meantime, there are actions suppliers can take to get ready:

  • Sign up for regular updates here.
  • Familiarise themselves with the Act with our supplier ‘Knowledge Drop’ videos, which gives a broad understanding of the Procurement Act and the key changes that will come into effect in February 2024. There are also dedicated SME and VCSE videos as part of the series. You can view all Knowledge Drop videos here
  • Discuss the changes with their regular customers and clients – who will now be thinking about their forward pipelines and which procurements might be undertaken using the new approaches.