Definition
Light Touch Regime
A relaxed set of rules for certain social, health and education services.
The light touch regime is a set of relaxed procurement rules applying to specific categories of services — mainly health, social, education and certain other people-focused services — that are considered less likely to attract cross-border interest, giving buyers more flexibility on process while still requiring fair, transparent competition.
Which services qualify
The regime covers services such as health and social care, some legal services, education and training, hotel and catering services in certain contexts, and other services identified in the relevant schedules under PCR 2015 and carried forward with updates under the Procurement Act 2023.
Contracts for these services benefit from a higher financial threshold before the full procurement rules apply, and buyers have significant freedom to design their own process, provided it remains transparent and treats suppliers equally — they are not locked into open, restricted or other named procedures in the same way as other contracts.
- Applies to health, social care, education and similar people-focused services
- Higher financial threshold than the general regime before rules bite
- Buyers can design a bespoke process rather than following a fixed named procedure
- Still subject to core principles of transparency and equal treatment
What suppliers should expect in practice
Because buyers have flexibility, light touch regime tenders can look quite different from one commissioner to the next — some run something close to a standard open procedure, others use more informal processes such as a published specification with a simple response format.
Suppliers bidding into health and social care markets, in particular, should not assume a standard tender format and should read each set of procurement documents carefully to understand exactly how the buyer intends to run the process and evaluate bids.
Frequently asked questions
- What services fall under the light touch regime?
- Mainly health and social care services, certain education and training services, some legal services, and a number of other people-focused services listed in the relevant legislative schedules. If in doubt, check the CPV codes used in the tender notice against the light touch service categories.
- Does the light touch regime mean no competition is required?
- No. Buyers still must run a fair, transparent process and treat suppliers equally, and must still advertise above-threshold opportunities. What changes is the flexibility around exactly how the process is structured and a higher financial threshold before the detailed procurement rules apply.
- Is the light touch regime still used under the Procurement Act 2023?
- A similar concept continues, with the Act maintaining more flexible arrangements for these types of services, though some detail has changed. Suppliers bidding for health, social care or related services from February 2025 should check the specific rules applying under the Act rather than assuming PCR 2015 terms still apply.
Related terms