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Core Infrastructure - BAU Legal Support

DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD & RURAL AFFAIRS

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

06 Oct 2026 at 16:19

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) procured ad hoc legal advisory support for a group of strategic IT contracts. The work covers contract management and interpretation; supplier relationships and disputes; governance and collaboration; transition and exit; procurement and contract modifications; employment, TUPE and pensions; commercial and financial matters; security, data and regulatory issues; and technology and artificial intelligence. This is specialist legal services work supporting Defra’s management of its IT contracts. The delivery location is described as the United Kingdom, with a London address also associated with the procurement. The scope spans the commercial and operational lifecycle of strategic technology contracts, rather than a single legal issue or one-off transaction.

The procurement is complete and has been awarded to DLA Piper UK LLP. Defra used a selective procedure as a call-off from a framework agreement. The stated tender value and awarded contract value are each £350,000. The award date was 5 October 2026, and the contract period runs from 5 October 2026 to 30 September 2028. The procurement was not divided into lots. The stated scope is a single package of ad hoc legal support across Defra’s strategic IT contracts. The opportunity was marked unsuitable for SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises. No evaluation criteria are set out in the available procurement details.

This award demonstrates demand from Defra for continuing, on-call legal advice across strategic IT contracts, delivered through a framework call-off. A credible competitor when this requirement next reaches the market would need a legal practice able to advise across the full technology-contract lifecycle: contract interpretation and management, supplier disputes, governance, transition and exit, procurement changes, TUPE and pensions, commercial matters, and security, data, regulation and AI. The broad scope favours a team able to combine public procurement and commercial contracting expertise with employment and technology-law capability, and to respond to varied issues as they arise. The buyer’s SME and VCSE suitability assessment indicates that this requirement was not considered suitable for those organisation types; firms should therefore assess whether their scale and breadth of expertise match the buyer’s requirement.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Core Infrastructure - BAU Legal Support

Notice Description

Contract for Ad Hoc legal support for a group of strategic IT contracts, including advice on: Contract Management and Interpretation Supplier Relationship and Dispute Resolution Governance and Collaboration Transition and Exit Procurement and Modification Advice Employment, TUPE and Pensions Commercial and Financial Matters Security, Data, and Regulatory Issues Technology and AI

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-dca0e224-98f8-4387-9ff5-a289c19d8db9
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/ea666420-f0eb-42f6-b182-a3e2451cbdb6
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Call-off from a framework agreement
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

CPV Codes

79111000 - Legal advisory services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£350,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£350,000 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
6 Oct 2026Today
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
5 Oct 20262 days ago
Contract Period
5 Oct 2026 - 30 Sep 2028 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD & RURAL AFFAIRS
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 4DF
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

DLA Piper UK LLP

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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