PROCUREMENT LAW 2026–27: THE PRACTICAL AND LEGAL CHALLENGES

Seven Leading Specialists | Seven Key Issues | One Essential Afternoon

November 2026 | 2.00 pm–5.15 pm
Live Online Conference

The Procurement Act has been in force for over 18 months. Where are the real legal risks now?

The Procurement Act 2023 has fundamentally changed the framework for public procurement. But as the new regime becomes established, the emphasis is shifting from understanding the legislation to dealing with its practical and legal consequences.

How far can contracting authorities go when designing competitive flexible procedures? What makes an evaluation or award decision vulnerable to challenge? When is a direct award justified? How much flexibility is there to vary an existing public contract?

And with further transparency and contract performance requirements now in operation, what additional obligations and potential liabilities must authorities and their advisers address?

This conference brings together seven leading procurement specialists to examine the areas where difficult questions are arising, legal uncertainty remains and expensive mistakes can occur.

The emphasis throughout will be on practical legal analysis, identifying risks and understanding how the new regime should be applied in real procurement exercises.

How Much Does it Cost?

Conference Fee: £249 + VAT per organisation

Up to 20 additional colleagues from the same organisation can attend at no extra charge.

The conference fee includes:

• Attendance at all seven sessions.
• Access to the conference recording.
• Speakers' presentation materials, where supplied.
• Opportunities to submit questions.

THE SEVEN KEY TOPICS

1. Challenges Under the Procurement Act — Where Are the Risks Now?

As procurement under the new regime becomes established, where are the greatest risks of legal challenge likely to arise?

• The changing landscape of procurement litigation under the 2023 Act.
• Potential grounds of challenge arising from procedural design, evaluation and award decisions.
• Transparency obligations and their significance in disputes.
• Standstill, limitation, interim relief and the available remedies.
• Practical strategies for bringing and defending procurement challenges.

The key question: What should contracting authorities and suppliers be doing now to minimise litigation risk and protect their positions?

2. Varying Public Contracts — Managing Variations Under the Procurement Act

Contract changes are often commercially necessary, but when does a permissible modification become an unlawful new award?

• The statutory grounds for modifying public contracts.
• Substantial and non-substantial modifications under the new regime.
• Changing scope, price, duration and contractual obligations.
• Contract change notices and transparency requirements.
• Managing variations to complex and long-term contracts.
• The continuing significance of contracts governed by the previous regime.

The key question: How can parties achieve commercial flexibility without exposing the contract to challenge?

3. Competitive Flexible Procedure — Opportunities, Pitfalls and Practical Experience

The competitive flexible procedure is one of the most significant innovations under the Act. But flexibility brings new legal and procedural risks.

• Designing a procedure that is flexible, proportionate and legally defensible.
• Negotiation, dialogue and successive stages of competition.
• Shortlisting, reducing tenderer numbers and managing changes during the process.
• Equal treatment, transparency and conflicts of interest.
• Documenting decisions and avoiding procedural unfairness.
• Practical lessons from the use of competitive flexible procedures.

The key question: How much flexibility can contracting authorities safely exercise, and where are the legal boundaries?

4. Procurement Challenges - In the light of TNLC v Gambling Commission and the Procurement Act’

The key findings in TNLC v Gambling Commission and their wider implications for procurement disputes.

Manifest error, evaluative discretion and the circumstances in which courts will intervene in procurement decisions.

Transparency, equal treatment and the use of undisclosed evaluation criteria.

Challenges to tender scoring, pass/fail requirements and the assessment of competing bids.

Unlawful contract modifications and the boundaries of permissible post-award changes.

The implications of the judgment for challenges under the Procurement Act 2023 and practical lessons for contracting authorities and suppliers.

5. Exclusion, Debarment and Supplier Due Diligence — The New Risks

The Act introduces a significantly revised approach to excluding suppliers, assessing reliability and addressing misconduct or poor performance.

• Mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds.
• The debarment regime and its consequences for suppliers.
• Self-cleaning and evidence of supplier reliability.
• Associated persons, connected persons and subcontractors.
• The relevance of previous contractual failures and misconduct.
• Challenging exclusion decisions and managing potential liabilities.

The key question: When should a supplier be excluded, when can exclusion be resisted, and what evidence is required?

6. Transparency, Notices and Contract Performance — The New Requirements

The expanded transparency regime creates obligations throughout the procurement lifecycle, extending well beyond the original contract award.

• The principal publication and notice requirements.
• The additional requirements introduced during 2026.
• Contract performance notices, KPIs and reporting obligations.
• Payment information and compliance reporting.
• The relationship between poor performance, transparency and potential exclusion.
• Legal and practical consequences of failing to comply.

The key question: What must contracting authorities now publish, when must they publish it, and what are the risks of getting it wrong?

7. Direct Awards — Justifications, Procedures and Legal Risks

Direct award powers can offer important flexibility, but their use must satisfy statutory conditions and withstand scrutiny.

• The statutory grounds permitting direct awards.
• Extreme urgency and other justifications for avoiding competition.
• The evidence needed to support a lawful direct award.
• Transparency notices and applicable procedural safeguards.
• Direct awards following unsuccessful competitive procedures.
• Challenging unlawful awards and assessing the potential remedies.

The key question: When is a direct award genuinely permissible, and how can the decision be defended if challenged?

OUR EXPERT SPEAKERS

We are delighted to bring together the following seven procurement law specialists:

Sarah Hannaford KC
Keating Chambers

Rhodri Williams KC
Keating Chambers

Simon Taylor
Keating Chambers

Jennifer Robinson
Dentons

Chris Murray
Eversheds Sutherland

Jade Divers
Trowers & Hamlins

David Hansom
Hogan Lovells

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

This conference is intended particularly for:

• Solicitors and barristers specialising in public procurement and public contracts.
• Lawyers advising contracting authorities and public bodies.
• In-house legal teams responsible for procurement and commercial contracting.
• Lawyers advising suppliers bidding for or performing public contracts.
• Commercial and procurement professionals dealing with complex legal issues under the Act.

It will be especially useful to those who already understand the basic framework of the Procurement Act and want to examine the more difficult questions arising in practice.

Why attend?

The Procurement Act is no longer simply a new piece of legislation to be understood. It is a regime that practitioners must apply, interpret and work with, often in circumstances where significant commercial interests and legal risks are involved.

This conference is designed to help you identify those risks, understand the difficult areas of the new regime and advise with greater confidence.

Important Notes about Booking

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If you do not yet have the complete list of delegates attending, you can book those you know now and add the others at a later date.

The Legal Training Consultancy

The Legal Training Consultancy is a full-service training consultancy with a large portfolio of conferences, courses and trainers.

Over the years, we have been responsible for putting together a vast number of law, tax and management-related conferences, webinars, seminars, videos and e-learning modules — substantially more than 2,200 in total.

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