Are you ready to publish payments compliance notices under the Procurement Act 2023?
We know that notices under the Procurement Act 2023 are generating a lot of debate. We have received a number of queries about when notices which were not in force at implementation of the Act, including payments compliance notices, are expected to go live.
The Cabinet Office Guidance on Payments Compliance Notices has been updated and now states that section 69 of the Act, which contains the requirement to publish payments compliance notices, will come into force on 1 October 2025.
Under section 69 of the Act, a contracting authority must publish a payments compliance notice before the end of the period of 30 days beginning with the last day of a reporting period if, during that reporting period, the contracting authority made a payment under a public contract or a sum owed by the authority under a public contract became payable. There are some exceptions where section 69 does not apply including, for example, concession contracts.
The payments compliance notice must contain the information specified in regulation 38 of the Procurement Regulations 2024, including information regarding the contracting authority’s payment of invoices under public contracts during the reporting period and a statement from a director or similar officer who is responsible for the contracting authority’s finances confirming that they approve the payments compliance notice and providing their name and job title.
Where required to do so by section 69, contracting authorities will need to publish their first payments compliance notice by 29 April 2026 for the reporting period from 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026, and continue to do so for each successive reporting period.
Contracting authorities should take steps now to ensure that they are capturing relevant information and have the necessary governance and approval mechanism in place to prepare and finalise their payments compliance notices once section 69 of the Act is in force.
Contact us
Our specialist procurement team has been helping clients to comply with their noticing requirements under the Act. If you have any queries regarding the requirements of the Act, please do not hesitate to contact our procurement team or fill out the form below.