The Cabinet Office has made the Procurement Act 2023 (Commencement No. 4) Regulations 2025, confirming start dates for the Act’s payment and performance transparency duties. Sections 69 and 71 will apply to contracts awarded under the Act from 1 January 2026, with section 69 applying to procurements regulated by the Welsh Ministers from 1 April 2026. Section 70 will commence on 1 April 2026 for all but Welsh‑regulated procurements, which are excluded from this instrument.
Section 69 requires contracting authorities to publish a payments compliance notice within 30 days of the end of each six‑month reporting period whenever a payment was made or became payable under a public contract. The notice must set out specified information on compliance with the implied 30‑day payment term in section 68 and any other information prescribed by regulations. The section does not apply to transferred Northern Ireland authorities, private utilities, schools or concession contracts.
Cabinet Office guidance confirms notices are to be published on the central digital platform and must be approved by a finance director or equivalent. Welsh Government guidance provides the same framework for devolved authorities and explains publication via the Welsh digital platform. Both sets of guidance explain the required data fields, including average days to pay and the percentage of invoices paid within 30, 31–60 and 61+ days.
With the 1 January 2026 commencement for section 69 (outside Wales), the first reporting period will run from 1 January to 31 March 2026. Authorities in scope will therefore need to publish their first payments compliance notice no later than 30 April 2026. For procurements regulated by the Welsh Ministers, the first reporting period will run from 1 April to 30 September 2026, with publication due by 30 October 2026. The 30‑day publication rule and six‑monthly cycle are set by section 69.
Section 70 introduces quarterly publication of specified information about any payment over £30,000 made under a public contract. The information must be published within 30 days of the end of the quarter in which the payment was made. The provision excludes private utilities’ utilities contracts, concession contracts, contracts awarded by schools and most contracts let by transferred Northern Ireland authorities unless routed through reserved or devolved arrangements.
Section 71 requires contracting authorities that have set key performance indicators under section 52 to assess contract performance at least annually and on termination and to publish specified information about that assessment. It also obliges authorities to publish, within 30 days, information where a contract is terminated (in whole or part), damages are awarded or a settlement is reached for breach, or where a supplier fails to improve performance after being given a proper opportunity. Light‑touch contracts are exempt from the failure‑to‑perform notice and private utilities are outside scope.
The instrument distinguishes procurements “regulated by the Welsh Ministers”. Under the Act, this includes procurements by devolved Welsh authorities (subject to exceptions) and procurements run under devolved Welsh procurement arrangements, as defined in sections 111 and 114. The definitions also set out what counts as reserved and transferred Northern Ireland procurement arrangements, which determine whether UK‑wide or devolved rules apply.
Publication routes mirror the guidance: contracting authorities publish via the central digital platform, while devolved Welsh authorities use the Welsh digital platform that interfaces with the central system. Authorities should confirm their data capture and approvals workflow now, including invoice‑receipt timestamps, average‑days‑to‑pay calculations and senior finance sign‑off, to meet the first half‑year reporting deadlines.
These transparency duties sit alongside the Act’s 30‑day payment term, which is implied into public contracts and is intended to flow down supply chains. Cabinet Office guidance reiterates that invoices must be paid within 30 days of receipt, not “validation”, and explains how the new public‑sector reporting aligns with private‑sector payment reporting.
Contracting authorities should also note adjacent timing changes. Procurement threshold amounts are being updated from 1 January 2026 under SI 2025/1200 and Cabinet Office PPN 023:2026, which is relevant to scoping regulated procurements under the new regime. Threshold updates do not alter the separate £30,000 trigger in section 70 for payment reporting.