Procurement Act 2023: What It Means for Social Care Providers
The Procurement Act 2023 represents one of the biggest overhauls of public sector commissioning in decades. For providers of care and support services — particularly those working in learning disability, domiciliary care, mental health, and complex needs — the changes matter. They shape not just how contracts are awarded, but how providers demonstrate value, compliance, and trustworthiness.
🔍 What Is the Procurement Act 2023?
Effective from October 2024 (with preparatory actions from February 2024), the Act replaces previous EU-based procurement rules. It introduces a simpler, more flexible regime for awarding public contracts in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
For social care providers bidding for contracts with local authorities or the NHS, this Act will affect the tender process, criteria weighting, and how commissioners justify award decisions.
📜 Key Changes for Care Providers
- Fewer procedures: The old maze of open, restricted, and competitive dialogue is replaced with a single flexible procedure.
- Greater transparency: Authorities must publish more notices (e.g. Pipeline Notices, Transparency Notices, Contract Performance Notices), making the process more visible for providers.
- Focus on value: ‘Most Advantageous Tender’ (MAT) replaces ‘Most Economically Advantageous Tender’ (MEAT) — encouraging wider consideration of quality, innovation, and social value.
- New exclusions regime: Authorities can exclude suppliers for misconduct, insolvency, or past performance concerns under clearer, mandatory grounds.
🧠 What This Means for Social Care Providers
- You’ll need to monitor pipelines: More notices mean better visibility of upcoming tenders — if you know where to look.
- Your compliance matters more: Past performance and governance documentation may be scrutinised more closely.
- Social value is now expected, not extra: MAT requires bids to demonstrate wider community benefit and innovation.
- You can challenge more easily: The ‘standstill’ period still applies, but authorities must now justify decisions more transparently.
✅ How to Prepare
- Keep your bid documents up to date — method statements, policies, and governance evidence.
- Track performance data that supports tender answers (e.g. client outcomes, inspection results).
- Refresh your social value approach — align with local priorities and co-production methods.
- Build relationships with commissioning teams to stay ahead of changes and frameworks.
📌 Final Thoughts
The Procurement Act 2023 aims to make public contracting fairer, more transparent, and easier to navigate. For providers willing to stay informed and adapt, it offers an opportunity to stand out for quality and impact — not just price.
At Impact Guru Ltd, we’re here to help you stay competitive under the new rules — with compliant, compelling tenders and strategies that meet modern commissioning expectations.
💼 Rapid Support Products (fast turnaround options)
- ⚡ 48-Hour Tender Triage
- 🆘 Bid Rescue Session – 60 minutes
- ✍️ Score Booster – Tender Answer Rewrite
- 🧩 Tender Answer Blueprint
- 📝 Tender Proofreading & Light Editing
- 🔍 Pre-Tender Readiness Audit
- 📁 Tender Document Review
🚀 Need a Bid Writing Quote?
If you’re exploring support for an upcoming tender or framework, request a quick, no-obligation quote. I’ll review your documents and respond with:
- A clear scope of work
- Estimated days required
- A fixed fee quote
- Any risks, considerations or quick wins
🔁 Prefer Flexible Monthly Support?
If you regularly handle tenders, frameworks or call-offs, a Monthly Bid Support Retainer may be a better fit.
- Guaranteed hours each month (1, 2, 4 or 8 days)
- Discounted day rates vs ad-hoc consultancy
- Use time flexibly across bids, triage, library updates, renewals
- One-month rollover (fair-use rules applied)
- Cancel anytime before next billing date
🚀 Ready to Win Your Next Bid?
Chat on WhatsApp or email Mike.Harrison@impact-guru.co.uk
Updated for Procurement Act 2023 • CQC-aligned • BASE-aligned (where relevant)