The Cabinet Office has issued a response to the House of Lords Statutory Inquiries Committee's report on 'Public Inquiries: Enhancing public trust'. The government acknowledged the value of public inquiries whilst recognising criticisms regarding their cost, duration and effectiveness. It agreed with the Committee's assessment that improvements to the 2005 Act and governance structure are necessary. The response includes detailed consideration of the Committee's recommendations, with several accepted and others under review. The government committed to publishing guidance on inquiries and exploring potential wider reforms to inquiry frameworks, particularly in the context of the Independent Public Advocate and a statutory duty of candour. A further update to Parliament on these matters is forthcoming.

The Minister for the Cabinet Office, John Glen, has responded to a question put to him by Chris Law of the Scottish National Party with regard to what assessment the government has made of the security of civil servants' pensions data following the cyber attack against Capita in March 2023. Glen responded that the Civil Service Pension Scheme (CSPS) contract has control measures in place to protect cyber security, including a set of security principles (such as no off-shoring of CSPS data and annual IT health checks), the requirement to ensure that Capita is subjected to an accreditation process before migrating any CSPS data into its infrastructure, and affording the Cabinet Office the contractual leverage to enforce both proactive and reactive controls for cyber and security data.

The Cabinet Office has issued a fresh stakeholder survey as part of its Transforming Public Procurement programme, to test awareness and understanding of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) regime. The survey aims to gather insights and information to inform development of the programme. It includes a range of questions to gauge stakeholder understanding, confidence and information sources. It also seeks to assess how likely the additional flexibilities of the Competitive Flexible Procedure are to be used at this stage. The survey is anonymous and stakeholders are encouraged to give candid feedback. The survey closes on 27 May 2025.

The Cabinet Office and the Department for Business and Trade and have set departmental procurement targets and supporting policies to increase small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) participation in public contracts. All central government departments must set three-year targets for direct SME spend and report annually, with optional indirect targets, to ensure SMEs have fair access to government procurement. These measures form part of the ‘Backing your business’ programme, which also includes reforms to tackle late payments, improve access to finance, simplify business support, and strengthen procurement rules through the Procurement Act 2023 to make processes more transparent and accessible.

The Cabinet Office has announced a phased modernisation of the Find a Tender Service platform architecture under the Transforming Public Procurement programme. The work is expected to take approximately one year, with the biggest improvements to user experience anticipated within the first six months.

The Cabinet Office has revised the Governance Code on Public Appointments to streamline recruitment and clarify ministers’ roles in the process. Ministers will remain ultimately accountable for public appointments but may now delegate intermediate recruitment stages to officials, reducing delays and improving efficiency while still approving role specifications and final decisions. The updated code, the first major revision since 2016, introduces a new principle of ‘Public Service’, emphasising the importance of attracting exceptional talent from across the UK to serve the public, and strengthens transparency by requiring the publication of certain Prime Ministerial appointments and departmental performance data on recruitment timelines.

The Cabinet Office has recently updated its Intergovernmental Relations page, with the latest addition concerning the Interministerial Group on UK-EU Relations. This update includes new communiqués and terms of reference for the group, reflecting ongoing engagement between the UK government and devolved administrations on matters relating to the UK's relationship with the European Union. The page continues to serve as a comprehensive repository for documents and information on intergovernmental engagement within the UK, covering various policy areas and ministerial groups.

Cabinet Office and the Government Legal Department have updated their Model Services Contract collection to include updated guidance for buyers under the Procurement Act 2023, and updated core terms and schedules.

The Cabinet Office has updated its guidance page on the National Security Unit for Procurement (NSUP) to include a link to the national security debarment referral form. Anyone may refer a supplier for consideration for a potential debarment investigation on the basis of national security, where there is credible evidence or serious concern of a threat to UK national security. This update is noted for ease of reference.

The Cabinet Office has published updated versions of the mandatory notification form, voluntary notification form, and retrospective validation form for the National Security and Investment (NSI) notification service. These forms are essential for entities submitting notifications about certain acquisitions that may have national security implications. Legal practitioners should note that these updated forms replace the previous versions and should be used for all future submissions through the NSI service.

The Cabinet Office has updated Procurement Policy Note 010: Procuring steel in government contracts (PPN 010), which provides in-scope organisations with guidance on steel procurement in government projects under the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023). PPN 010 applies to central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies when awarding public contracts (as defined by PA 2023, s 3), other than special regime contracts (as defined by PA 2023, s 10(6)),  where steel is being procured directly or indirectly (relevant steel procurement). Other contracting authorities are encouraged to consider applying the best practice set out in PPN 010, as appropriate, where they do not have equivalent measures in place. PPN 010 provides guidance on policies, tools and methodologies relating to the design of relevant steel procurements and clarifies the scope of reporting requirements on origin data forming part of the annual steel data return to the Department for Business and Trade. PPN 010 has been updated to include an example contract clause and actuals data template for the associated steel product and origin data requirements. PPN 010 has also been updated to reflect terminology introduced by PA 2023 and the Procurement Regulations 2024, SI 2024/692. For procurements commenced before the PA 2023 go-live on 24 February 2025, authorities should continue to refer to PPN 04/23.

The Cabinet Office has updated Procurement Policy Note 013: Using standard contracts (PPN 013), which provides in-scope organisations with guidance on standardisation of terms and conditions in public contracts. PPN 013  applies to all central government departments, their executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies. Other public sector contracting authorities may wish to apply the guidance. PPN 013 has been updated to expand the appropriate use of the Short Form Contract, allowing in-scope organisations to utilise the Short Form Contract for non-complex above-threshold procurements, within the relevant limits, where it is proportionate and appropriate to do so. In these cases, authorities are advised to consider including additional clauses from the Mid-Tier Contract to cover required terms which are missing from the Short Form Contract. PPN 013 has also been updated to reflect terminology introduced by the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) and the Procurement Regulations 2024. For procurements commenced before the PA 2023 go-live on 24 February 2025, authorities should continue to refer to PPN 08/23.