The Wales Procurement Review Unit (WPRU) was established on 24 February 2025 alongside commencement of the Procurement Act 2023.
The WPRU oversees public procurement compliance to ensure that the changes introduced by the Procurement Act 2023 and Part 3 of the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 become adopted practice by Welsh Contracting Authorities.
By ensuring compliance with new procurement rules the WPRU helps safeguard the integrity of public procurement and compliance with relevant trade agreements. It also protects public bodies from unacceptable supplier risk.
The WPRU offers 3 core services.
Core services
1. A new procurement feedback service (PFS)
The Welsh Government’s Supplier Feedback Service (SFS) has been rebranded the PFS. The service continues to carry out informal investigations into suppliers’ concerns about the procurement activities of Welsh Contracting Authorities. It is now supported by powers set out in the Procurement Act 2023.
The legacy SFS process will continue to apply to any procurements that began under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Please read the PFS scope and remit for this service before submitting a form to raise an issue.
- PFS scope and remit
- Raise a supplier concern about a specific Welsh Public Sector procurement
- Wales Procurement Review Unit - Feedback Services: privacy notice
2. A new procurement compliance service (PCS)
The PCS focuses on investigating Welsh Contracting Authorities’ compliance with the requirements of the Procurement Act 2023. Unlike the Procurement Feedback Service, which deals with specific procurements, the PCS concentrates on systemic and institutional non-compliance.
Further information, including protocols, scope of investigations, and referral forms, will be published on this site in due course.
3. A new exclusions and debarment service (EDS)
The WPRU’s Exclusions and Debarment Service (EDS) safeguards public procurement in Wales. It assesses whether suppliers meet the statutory exclusion criteria under the Procurement Act 2023 and, where appropriate, refers cases to a Minister of the Crown for consideration of inclusion on the UK debarment list.
For further detail on the exclusion regime, refer to the Procurement Act 2023 and associated Exclusions Guidance.
Notification of Exclusion of a Supplier
Under section 59 of the Act, Welsh Contracting Authorities must notify Welsh Ministers within 30 days of excluding a supplier.
This notification requirement applies where the supplier is an excluded or excludable supplier under the Act and where:
- a tender is disregarded or a supplier is excluded from a procurement,
- a supplier is identified as an excluded or excludable supplier due to an associated person or sub-contractor and has replaced the associated person or sub-contractor,
- an application for admission to a dynamic market is rejected, or
- a supplier is removed from a dynamic market.
To support this requirement, WPRU has developed a standard online notification form to ensure that all relevant information is provided.
Under section 60 of the Act, Welsh Ministers may investigate suppliers to determine whether they are excluded or excludable suppliers and may refer the case to a Minister of the Crown to consider whether entry of the supplier’s name should be made to the debarment list.
National Security Grounds
Where exclusions relate to national security, all contracting authorities must make the appropriate referrals to the National Security Unit for Procurement (NSUP).
In the case of discretionary exclusions (Schedule 7, paragraph 14 – threat to national security), devolved Welsh authorities must notify a Minister of the Crown and obtain prior confirmation from the minister that the provider or a sub-contractor is an excludable supplier, and the contract should be terminated.
Where a supplier is subsequently excluded, Welsh Contracting Authorities must comply with section 59 of the Act and notify Welsh Ministers within 30 days of the supplier’s exclusion.
Forms and referrals
- Notify Welsh Ministers of the exclusion of a supplier
- Refer a case to a Minister of the Crown (national security grounds)
Further information on WPRU’s exclusions and debarment process, including investigation scope, will be published on this site in due course.
Socially responsible public procurement
The Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Regulations 2026 came into force on 25 March 2026, with regulation 6 commencing on 1 April 2026.
These Regulations set out the detailed requirements for implementing Part 3 of the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Act 2023 (SPPP Act), which relates to Socially Responsible Public Procurement.
Under the SPPP Act, Welsh Ministers may investigate how a Contracting Authority has carried out its public procurement activities. If you believe that a Contracting Authority listed in Schedule 1 of the Act has not met its socially responsible procurement duties, you can submit a concern using the ‘Socially Responsible Procurement: concern notification form’.
For more information, visit the Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) webpage.
This WPRU page along with its detailed processes are still being finalised with stakeholders, including UK government and the Northern Ireland Executive, and will be fully available in due course.