Competitive flexible procedure: a care provider's guide

The old procedures are gone

Under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015), there were six prescribed procurement procedures: open, restricted, competitive dialogue, competitive procedure with negotiation, innovation partnership, and design contest. Most care sector tenders followed the restricted procedure — a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) followed by an Invitation to Tender (ITT).

The Procurement Act 2023 replaced all but one of these with two options: the open procedure and the competitive flexible procedure (CFP). For care sector contracts of any complexity, the CFP is becoming the default.

This matters because the predictable two-stage format that most care providers are used to is no longer guaranteed. Each commissioner can now design their own process from scratch.

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How the competitive flexible procedure works

The CFP gives contracting authorities broad discretion to design a procurement process suited to the specific contract. There is no fixed template. Instead, the commissioner sets out their process in the tender notice and procurement documents, and suppliers follow it.

What commissioners can include

Under the CFP, a procurement process might involve any combination of:

• Selection stage — filtering suppliers by capability, capacity, or experience (similar to PQQ, but not required to follow that format)
• Shortlisting — reducing the number of suppliers invited to the next stage based on published criteria
• Dialogue rounds — structured discussions with shortlisted suppliers to refine requirements or proposals
• Negotiation — back-and-forth on terms, pricing, or service design
• Presentations or interviews — face-to-face or virtual sessions where providers present their approach
• Site visits — commissioners visiting your premises or current service delivery locations
• Innovation stages — where suppliers propose novel approaches to a defined problem
• Best and final offer (BAFO) — a final round where shortlisted suppliers submit refined bids

A commissioner might use two of these elements or six of them. There is no prescribed sequence. The only requirement is that the process must be set out in advance in the procurement documents and applied consistently.

What stays consistent

Despite the flexibility, certain rules apply to every CFP:

• Transparency — the full process, stages, and evaluation criteria must be published upfront
• Equal treatment — all suppliers at each stage must be treated equally
• Proportionality — requirements must be proportionate to the contract value and complexity
• Standstill period — 8 working days after the contract award notice is published
• Notice requirements — tender notices, contract award notices, and other mandatory publications

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What this means for care providers

1. No two procurements will look the same

This is the most practical change. A domiciliary care framework in one local authority might use a simple two-stage process. The same type of framework in the next authority might include presentations, site visits, and a BAFO round.

You cannot prepare a single set of template responses and reuse them across procurements. Each CFP requires you to read the procurement documents, understand the process design, and tailor your approach accordingly.

2. Preparation time may increase

Multi-stage processes take longer — both for commissioners to run and for providers to participate in. Budget for the possibility that a CFP procurement could require:

• An initial selection submission
• A full written tender
• A presentation or interview (possibly at short notice)
• A site visit (with preparation for what commissioners will want to see)
• A BAFO round

Not every procurement will use all of these. But you need to be ready for any combination.

3. Interview and presentation skills matter more

Under PCR 2015, most care sector tenders were decided on paper. Written responses were everything. Under the CFP, commissioners can include face-to-face elements as scored stages.

If your senior team has not presented to a tender panel before, invest in preparation now. Commissioners will score these sessions against published criteria, just like written responses. Generic presentations will not work — you need to address the specific contract, the specific service users, and the specific evaluation criteria.

4. Clarification questions are critical

Because each CFP is bespoke, there is more room for ambiguity in procurement documents. Use the clarification period actively:

• If the process stages are unclear, ask
• If the evaluation criteria are ambiguous, ask
• If the timeline between stages is not specified, ask
• If you do not understand how presentations will be scored, ask

The Act requires commissioners to respond to clarification questions and to publish answers to all suppliers (anonymised). This is your opportunity to level the playing field.

5. Your evidence library needs to be modular

When the process was predictable, you could prepare standard responses. Now, you need evidence that can be reconfigured:

• Case studies that can be presented verbally or in writing
• KPI data in formats suitable for slides, documents, or discussion
• Policy summaries that can be expanded or condensed depending on word limits
• Staff CVs and qualifications ready for selection-stage submission

Our evidence library guide covers how to build this kind of modular evidence base.

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The CFP and Light Touch Regime contracts

Most adult social care contracts qualify for the Light Touch Regime (LTR), which sits within the Procurement Act 2023 but with lighter requirements. The CFP is available for LTR contracts, and many commissioners will use it.

However, LTR contracts also benefit from:

• Higher financial threshold (£663,540)
• No minimum timescales
• Fewer mandatory notices
• Flexibility on framework duration

This means LTR procurements using the CFP may have compressed timelines. A commissioner could publish a CFP-based procurement with a two-week response window — something that would not be permitted for above-threshold contracts outside the LTR.

Practical implication: Monitor portal submissions and tender alerts closely. The combination of CFP flexibility and LTR timescales means opportunities can appear and close faster than you expect.

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How commissioners are using the CFP in practice

It is still early — the Act only went live in February 2025 — but patterns are emerging:

• Most councils are starting conservatively. Many early CFP procurements look similar to the old restricted procedure with minor variations. This will change as confidence grows.
• Presentation stages are appearing more frequently in complex care contracts, particularly supported living and specialist services.
• Some authorities are using the CFP to introduce co-design elements, where providers contribute to service specification during the procurement process.
• Framework re-procurements are being designed as open frameworks with CFP call-off processes, giving commissioners flexibility at both framework and contract level.

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Preparing for the competitive flexible procedure

1. Read every procurement document completely. Do not skim. The process description is not a formality — it IS the rules.

2. Build a modular evidence library with case studies, KPIs, policies, and staff profiles that can be assembled for different process formats.

3. Prepare your team for presentations. Identify who will present, practise against evaluation criteria, and invest in delivery skills.

4. Use clarification periods aggressively. The CFP increases the importance of asking questions. Do not assume you understand the process.

5. Track how your target commissioners are using the CFP. Each authority will develop its own patterns. Understanding their approach gives you a preparation advantage.

6. Read our Procurement Act 2023 guide for the broader context on how the Act changes procurement for care providers.

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