Procurement procedures
Light touch regime(LTR)
Definition
A simplified procurement regime for certain social, health, education, and other specified services, with higher thresholds and more flexible procedural rules than the standard procurement regulations.
The light touch regime (LTR) covers services listed in Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (or the equivalent in the Procurement Act 2023). These include health and social care services, education, hospitality, legal services, postal services, and certain cultural and sporting services.
Under the LTR, the procurement threshold is significantly higher — £663,540 (from January 2024) compared to £214,904 for standard services. Below this threshold, buyers have even more flexibility. Above it, they must still advertise the opportunity and follow basic principles of transparency and equal treatment, but they can design their own process rather than following the rigid open or restricted procedures.
For SMEs delivering these services, the LTR can be both an opportunity and a frustration. The flexibility means buyers can design processes that favour local knowledge and social value — but it also means less standardisation, making it harder to know what to expect from each procurement.
Why it matters for bidders
If your services fall under the light touch regime, you are operating in a different competitive landscape. The higher thresholds mean more contracts are procured below-threshold (with even lighter rules), and the procedural flexibility means each buyer may run their process differently.
How Skim helps
Skim identifies LTR opportunities and flags them distinctly from standard procurements, so you can adjust your bid approach to the lighter procedural requirements and focus on the evaluation criteria that matter most in social and health service procurements.
Related terms
Procurement thresholds
The financial values that determine which procurement rules apply to a public sector contract — below-threshold contracts follow lighter rules, while above-threshold contracts must comply with full procurement regulations including mandatory advertising and specific procedure requirements.
Public Contracts Regulations 2015(PCR 2015)
The primary legislation governing public procurement in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, transposing the EU Public Procurement Directive into UK law. Being progressively replaced by the Procurement Act 2023.
Social value
The wider economic, social, and environmental benefits that a supplier's delivery of a public contract generates beyond the direct goods or services purchased, now a mandatory evaluation criterion in most UK central government procurements.