Provider Selection Regime or Procurement Act 2023: Which Rules Govern Your Care Tender

Two separate procurement regimes now govern how care contracts reach the market in England. Health care services commissioned by the NHS run under the Provider Selection Regime. Adult and children's social care commissioned by councils runs under the Procurement Act 2023. If you bid across both health and social care, the first job on every opportunity is to work out which regime applies, because the process, the award basis and the route to challenge a decision are all different.

What the evidence shows

• The Provider Selection Regime (PSR) has applied since 1 January 2024. It is made under the Health and Care Act 2022 through the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, and it took health care services out of the general procurement rules (NHS England statutory guidance; legislation.gov.uk).
• The PSR covers health care services only. It applies to NHS England, integrated care boards, NHS trusts and foundation trusts, and local authorities when they commission health care, including public health services such as substance misuse and sexual health. It does not cover social care or goods, and there is no minimum contract value (NHS England statutory guidance).
• The PSR sets five selection processes. Three direct award processes, a most suitable provider process that awards without a competition, and a competitive process. Decisions are made against five key criteria in regulation 5: quality and innovation, value, integration and collaboration, access and reducing inequalities, and social value, with no fixed weighting (legislation.gov.uk, regulation 5).
• The Procurement Act 2023 went live on 24 February 2025, replacing the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (gov.uk).
• Council-commissioned social care sits under the Procurement Act, usually as a light touch contract. The light touch threshold is £663,540 including VAT. Regulated NHS health procurement is disapplied from the Act, so the PSR applies to it instead (gov.uk, light touch contracts guidance).
• The Act changes how you engage. It introduces the open procedure and the competitive flexible procedure, a Central Digital Platform where suppliers register once, a National Procurement Policy Statement that authorities must have regard to, published key performance indicators for contracts over £5 million, and a central debarment list (gov.uk).

The National Procurement Policy Statement that took effect with the Act sets three priorities for buyers: driving economic growth, delivering social and economic value, and building commercial capability, with value for money as the overarching aim. It expects authorities to give small businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises a fair route into public contracts, which matters to most care providers (Cabinet Office, National Procurement Policy Statement, February 2025).

What this means for providers

The regime is decided by the service and the commissioner, not by who you are. If you are bidding to provide health care commissioned by the NHS or an integrated care board, you are under the PSR. If you are bidding to provide adult or children's social care commissioned by a council, you are under the Procurement Act. The same council can use both: social care under the Act, and its public health services under the PSR.

Under the PSR, more contracts can be directly awarded, or decided through the most suitable provider route, without a competition. That puts weight on your relationships with commissioners, the data you can show on quality and outcomes, and your ability to evidence the five key criteria, not only on a written bid. When a competitive process does run, it is advertised on the Find a Tender Service against published criteria.

Under the Procurement Act, expect the open or competitive flexible procedure, register once on the Central Digital Platform so your core details carry across bids, and write to the priorities the authority must have regard to in the National Procurement Policy Statement.

What to do about it

1. On every opportunity, confirm the commissioner and the service before you start. NHS or integrated care board health care means PSR. Council social care means Procurement Act light touch. For a mixed package, the main subject matter decides.
2. Register on the Central Digital Platform and keep your supplier record current, so Procurement Act bids reuse it rather than rebuilding it each time.
3. Build your evidence against both the PSR key criteria and the National Procurement Policy Statement priorities, because both reward demonstrable quality, value, integration and social value.
4. Track the Find a Tender Service and your local portals, and put the standstill and challenge windows into your bid calendar. Under the PSR the standstill is a minimum of 8 working days.
5. Watch the procurement reforms announced in March 2026, including the public interest test and a move towards insourcing by default, because they affect how willing commissioners are to contract externally.

Frequently asked questions

Does the Provider Selection Regime mean the NHS no longer tenders health services competitively? No. The PSR reduces automatic competitive tendering and allows direct awards and a most suitable provider route, but a competitive process is still used where it is the right approach, and it is required to set up a framework.

Which regime applies to supported living or a mixed health and social care package? The mixed procurement rules decide by the main subject matter, broadly the higher value element. A package that is mostly social care is normally Procurement Act light touch. One that is mostly health care is normally PSR.

Do we still bid on the Find a Tender Service? Yes. Competitive PSR processes and Procurement Act procedures both publish their notices there.

Can TenderLab help us respond to this? Yes. We identify which regime a tender sits under, map the published criteria, and write the method statements and responses to match them.

Do you write the full quality response? Yes. We draft the full quality response from your verified evidence, or review and strengthen a draft you have already started.

What is the realistic lead time to engage us? Bring us in as early as you can, ideally when the notice appears, so there is time to gather the evidence and draft properly before the deadline.

Are you interested in this topic? Contact TenderLab for a free consultation.