Commissioner guide · Procurement
Dynamic Purchasing Systems & the Light Touch Regime.
How the open, pre-qualified route to commissioning supported accommodation for 16–25s actually works — the lots, how a provider gets on, and what changed when dynamic markets arrived under the Procurement Act 2023.
By the Milestone Young People practice team · Reviewed: August 2026
A Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) is an open, pre-qualified list of providers that a local authority calls off from to place 16–25 year-olds in supported accommodation. The Light Touch Regime is the lighter set of procurement rules that governs how it — and other care contracts — is run. Together they are the main route by which councils buy this cohort's placements at volume while keeping quality assured.
This guide is the plain-English companion to our spot / block / DPS comparison. There we set the three routes side by side; here we go deep on the DPS itself — how it is structured, how a provider joins, and how the ground has shifted under the Procurement Act 2023.
What is the Light Touch Regime?
The Light Touch Regime is a lighter, more flexible set of public procurement rules that applies to social, health, education and certain other services — supported accommodation among them. Because these are services delivered to people rather than commodities, the law gives commissioners more discretion over how they design the process, subject to the core principles of transparency and equal treatment. The financial threshold at which the full procurement rules apply is also set much higher for Light Touch services than for ordinary goods and services.
The practical effect is that authorities can run open, rolling admission processes — exactly what a DPS needs — and can weight quality heavily in how they select and call off. It is why frameworks and purchasing systems in this space are often labelled "Light Touch", and why a new provider can come onto supply without the long, rigid process a mainstream tender would demand.
What is a Dynamic Purchasing System, in detail?
A DPS is an open electronic list of providers who have been pre-qualified against published criteria, which an authority calls off from for individual or block placements, and which new providers can join at any time during its life. A DPS for young people can run for up to seven years, and a single one commonly covers looked-after children, care leavers, children in need, 16- and 17-year-olds at risk of homelessness, and unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people.
The defining difference from a framework is that the door never closes. On a framework, providers bid once, a panel is fixed, and newcomers wait — often years — for the next round. On a DPS, a provider that meets the standard can apply and be admitted whenever it is ready. For a commissioner that means the supply pool keeps growing; for a young person it means a locally based provider can be brought onto supply in time to keep a placement in area.
How is a DPS structured? The lots
A DPS is usually divided into lots so that a call-off is matched to the young person's level of need. A provider applies for the lots it can safely deliver and is admitted lot by lot. While every authority names its lots differently, they typically map to four bands:
| Lot (typical) | Who it is for | Support intensity |
|---|---|---|
| Standard supported accommodation | Care leavers and 16+ young people building independence with regular, planned support | Medium — scheduled keywork, staff on-call |
| Complex / high needs | Young people with layered risk — mental health, exploitation history, offending, complex trauma | High — enhanced hours, tighter safeguarding, sometimes solo |
| Floating / lower support | Young people close to independence, in their own or dispersed accommodation | Low — visiting/floating support, step-down |
| Emergency / same-day | Placement breakdowns, custody or hospital discharge, out-of-hours crises | Variable — rapid response, bridging to a planned placement |
Lotting lets a commissioner call the right provider for the right young person, and lets a provider be honest about what it does well. A provider registered only for a standard lot should not be picking up a complex, solo placement it is not equipped for — matching integrity is a quality signal in both directions.
How does a provider join a DPS?
A provider applies to join at any time by completing the authority's selection questionnaire and submitting the required evidence; if it meets the published criteria, it is admitted to the relevant lots and can start receiving call-offs. Admission is a quality gate, not a formality. The evidence a commissioner expects typically includes:
- Regulatory status — for 16–17 provision, current Ofsted registration for the specific category; for 18+ provision, a clear regulatory position statement (why the service sits lawfully outside registration scope).
- The four Quality Standards — evidence against Leadership & Management, Protection, Accommodation and Support (see our Regulations 2023 summary).
- Statement of Purpose, policy suite and safeguarding arrangements — including a named Designated Safeguarding Lead and missing / exploitation protocols.
- Insurance (including abuse / molestation cover), financial standing, and staffing and management structure.
- Outcomes evidence where available — the differentiator most providers cannot supply.
Because a DPS is open, the smart move for a new provider is to apply the moment its pack is genuinely complete. Admission is the single most important credibility and pipeline step, and it does not require waiting for a tender window.
Many authorities run their children's and young people's DPS on an e-procurement platform such as Sproc.Net, which carries the referral, quotation, approval and invoicing workflow between commissioner and provider. Being admitted to the DPS and set up on the platform is what turns "approved" into "placeable".
DPS vs framework: which is which?
| Dynamic Purchasing System | Framework | |
|---|---|---|
| Admission | Open throughout — join any time | Closed after the initial round |
| Typical duration | Up to 7 years | Usually up to 4 years |
| Provider pool | Grows over time | Fixed at award |
| Best suited to | Changing markets; new local supply | Stable, defined panels |
| Call-off | Spot or block | Direct award or mini-competition |
PCR 2015 to the Procurement Act 2023: what changed
The Procurement Act 2023 came into force on 24 February 2025 and replaces the Dynamic Purchasing System with the "dynamic market" for new arrangements in England — the same open, pre-qualified concept under updated rules. The older Public Contracts Regulations 2015, under which most current care DPSs were set up, continue to govern those arrangements for their remaining duration. So in 2026 both terms are in live use: an authority may be running a legacy "DPS" from 2022 and standing up a new "dynamic market" alongside it.
For a provider, the practical takeaway is simple: the mechanics you need to master — pre-qualify, evidence quality, join the open list, receive call-offs — are unchanged. The label on the arrangement tells you which rulebook governs the paperwork, not how you win and hold placements. The Light Touch Regime continues, in modified form, under the new Act. [Confirm which regime a specific arrangement sits under, and the current Light Touch threshold, before relying on either in a live procurement.]
We are preparing our Dynamic Purchasing System pack to the standard a commissioner's quality-assurance team expects to see: evidence against all four Quality Standards, a full policy suite, transparent needs-banded pricing, and — the part most providers cannot offer — a published outcomes framework. We would rather be admitted slowly and properly than quickly and thinly.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Light Touch Regime?
A lighter, more flexible set of public procurement rules for social, health, education and certain other services, including supported accommodation. Authorities have more freedom over how they run the process, provided they are transparent and treat providers equally, and the threshold at which the full rules apply is much higher than for ordinary goods and services.
How does a provider get onto a DPS?
By applying at any time with the selection questionnaire and required evidence — regulatory status, the four Quality Standards, Statement of Purpose and policies, safeguarding, insurance, financial standing and, ideally, outcomes data. Meet the published criteria and you are admitted to the relevant lots. A DPS never closes to new applicants.
What lots does a supported accommodation DPS have?
Commonly a standard lot, a complex / high-needs lot, a floating / lower-support lot, and an emergency / same-day lot. Providers apply for the lots they can safely deliver and are admitted lot by lot, so call-offs are matched to the young person's level of need.
Is a DPS better than a framework?
Neither is "better" — they solve different problems. A DPS stays open for new providers and suits a changing market where local supply should be able to grow. A framework fixes a panel at award and suits a stable, defined set of providers. Many authorities run both.
What is a dynamic market?
The successor to the DPS under the Procurement Act 2023 (in force 24 February 2025). It keeps the open, pre-qualified supplier list that providers can join at any time, under updated rules. Existing DPSs set up under the 2015 Regulations continue for their agreed duration.
Sources and further reading. Public Contracts Regulations 2015; Procurement Act 2023, in force 24 February 2025, legislation.gov.uk; Cabinet Office Transforming Public Procurement guidance. Regulatory expectations for admission are drawn from the Supported Accommodation (England) Regulations 2023 and the four Quality Standards — see our Regulations 2023 summary. Time-sensitive figures should be confirmed against the current source.
Building your provider list?
We are readying our DPS and dynamic-market pack to a standard your quality-assurance team will recognise. Talk to us about placements and coming onto your supply.