2025: Will new procurement rules help deliver growth in the UK rail sector?

Overview:
The new procurement regime creates opportunities for innovative working methods, though its full impact on innovation procurement remains uncertain. The roundtable discussion evaluated both the benefits and challenges of these changes.

Benefits:
The competitive flexible procedure allows buyers to define their procurement process with flexibility for outcome-focused approaches. While similar elements existed previously under negotiation or dialogue procedures, this represents a streamlined approach.

Open frameworks are welcomed by both buyers and suppliers as they reflect the dynamic transport sector and prevent the exclusion of new market entrants and innovators.

The emphasis on early market engagement before formal procurement processes is seen as a positive development.

Challenges:
While transparency provisions are generally welcomed, additional notice requirements may burden contracting authorities with resource-intensive processing and redacting of sensitive information. This administrative burden risks limiting the appetite for testing innovative approaches.

Increased transparency brings advantages, particularly for SMEs, but uncertainty exists regarding potential increased scrutiny and legal challenges, which might reduce risk appetite for deploying novel solutions.

Uncertainty remains about Dynamic Markets implementation, though this has the potential to support new or rapidly developing categories.

To leverage opportunities for innovative solutions, contracting authorities need strong specification-writing skills to focus on outcomes without favouring existing products or services.

Key Themes:
Risk Allocation: Clear identification of which party is best placed to manage risks, with early market engagement on risk/reward mechanisms. Avoiding inappropriate risk transfer to suppliers prevents built-in additional costs.

Partnership Working: Collaborative rather than transactional approaches yield better outcomes, especially in complex or long-duration contracts. Early engagement between commercial colleagues and requirement owners is essential.

Behaviours: Despite new regulations, positive behaviours from all parties remain vital. The Innovation Charter provides a framework for appropriate buyer-supplier relationships.

Administrative Burden: All buyers expressed concern about compliance time for notices under the new regime.
Other indirect changes include updated Public Sector Contract terms, offering new flexibility in the treatment of supplier IPR.

Rail Sector Innovation Charter:
The Rail Supply Group's Innovation Charter enjoys broad support across industry and government. It commits to considering the lifecycle value of bids and ensuring fair treatment of suppliers identified in winning tenders.

Four working groups are developing success criteria and action plans, with results expected soon.