Health and Social Care Bidding in the New UK Procurement Landscape
Care providers and bid writers alike are adjusting to a new landscape for health and social care bidding as the dust begins to settle on the UK’s most significant overhaul of procurement rules in a generation. Since the Procurement Act came into force in February 2025, one thing is becoming clear: the Act is rewriting the rules of engagement for those hoping to win public sector contracts, especially in the tightly regulated world of health and social care.
From new conditions for participation to sharper transparency obligations and greater supplier visibility throughout the tender process, the Procurement Act is bringing both opportunities and fresh frustrations. But what does this mean on the ground; for bid consultants, providers, and the public services they aim to support?
What Changed with the Act – Health and Social Care Bidding
The Procurement Act 2023 replaced multiple EU-era regulations with a single rulebook for public sector contracts across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Key objectives of the Act:
- Deliver value for money – ensure public funds are spent effectively.
- Maximise public benefit – encourage suppliers to showcase solutions that improve services and outcomes.
- Increase transparency – publish notices for each stage of a procurement on a central digital platform.
- Act with integrity – hold contracting authorities accountable for managing contracts properly.
- Ensure equal treatment – same deadlines, word counts, and quality standards for all suppliers.
- Support SMEs – reduce barriers for smaller providers, including realistic response times.
With its presence, notable changes providers will see may be:
- More notices published, including preliminary engagement, award, contract changes, and termination.
- 30-day payment terms across supply chains.
- Clearer feedback on poor performance or breaches.
- Stronger opportunities for early engagement with commissioners.
For health and social care organisations, these changes offer greater visibility of opportunities but also new rules to navigate.
Health and Social Care Bidding – What’s Happening on the Ground
Nearly a year into the Procurement Act’s rollout, the reality for health and social care providers is proving more complicated than the policy’s promises. While the reforms have opened up some welcome improvements in visibility and communication, they have also introduced eligibility rules that, in practice, are locking some providers out of the competition entirely.
One of the most significant changes seen in health and social care bidding has been the use of Section 22 “conditions for participation” by commissioners. This provision allows them to restrict health and social care bids to providers who already have a CQC-registered office within the relevant local authority area. According to Ian Evans, this has quickly become a barrier to market access for many capable organisations. “These restrictions are reducing the availability of contracts for care providers to bid for,” he explained. “Providers are challenging the restrictions, but commissioners are often rigidly keeping these in place.” The effect is a narrowing of competition, which runs counter to the Act’s intended levelling of the playing field.
At the same time, the Act has delivered on its pledge to make procurement more transparent. Commissioners are publishing more preliminary market engagement and planned procurement notices, giving providers greater opportunity to get involved early in shaping tender processes and service specifications. The visibility continues through to the award stage, with contract award notices now published at the start of the standstill period, followed by detailed contract information.
“We’re seeing greater transparency, which is helping providers plan ahead and, if needed, prepare challenges to contract award decisions.”
Ian Evans
Reactions from providers are mixed. While the increased transparency is widely welcomed, the emphasis on supporting SMEs is also prompting broader market questions. The Act places a clear duty on contracting authorities to consider the needs of smaller suppliers, but some in the industry point out that this focus could, in certain situations, alter the competitive balance. If commissioners lean towards SMEs, either in evaluation scoring or in breaking contracts into smaller lots, does that risk overlooking the proven capability of larger providers? The question this also raises is whether growth and scale, traditionally viewed as strengths in service delivery, might in some cases start to be perceived as less of an advantage.
With eligibility rules already being tested through clarifications, attention is now turning to whether legal challenges will emerge to assess the lawfulness of restrictive conditions, and whether the Act’s intent to create a level playing field can be sustained across providers of all sizes. As Ian Evans observed, “It will be interesting to see if legal challenges come about and the outcomes of these to test if these conditions are indeed legal.”
How BFT Consult Has Adapted and What Providers Should Do
The Procurement Act may have changed the rules, but for BFT Consult it’s been a chance to fine-tune how we help clients prepare and win health and social care contracts. We’ve adjusted our approach in three key ways:
- Challenging restrictive eligibility rules – supporting providers to submit clear, evidence-based clarification questions when conditions for participation risk shutting them out.
- Making the most of early notices – using preliminary market engagement and planned procurement notices to start shaping bid strategies before the tender even lands.
- Refining bids through new transparency measures – tracking contract award notices during the standstill period to understand commissioner decisions and sharpen future submissions.
These adjustments have already helped clients secure wins under the new rules, even in competitive and restricted markets.
What providers should be doing now:
- Keep a close watch on preliminary and planned procurement notices — they’re your early signal to prepare.
- Don’t accept restrictive eligibility rules at face value; use clarifications to question them.
- Learn from every outcome, win or lose — contract award notices now give you the insights you need.
Interested in current tenders? View live tender opportunities here.
