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Culture Learning and Libraries

Nottinghamshire County Council

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Award

25 Sep 2026 at 15:34

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

13 Mar 2026 at 09:57

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

03 Jul 2025 at 10:03

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Planning

19 May 2025 at 11:28

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Nottinghamshire County Council has contracted for library, cultural and learning services, including archives, museums and related cultural provision. The service is delivered in Nottinghamshire, with the awarded work covering Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. The provider is Culture, Learning & Libraries (Midlands), trading as Inspire. This is a continuing public-facing service rather than a discrete supply of goods or a construction project, and the successful provider is an established cultural and library organisation. The procurement covers one combined service requirement. Its stated purpose is to maintain the existing provision through a further contract on substantially the same terms, with continuity of service central to the arrangement.

The procurement is complete: Nottinghamshire County Council made a direct award to Culture, Learning & Libraries (Midlands), trading as Inspire, and the contract is active and signed. The award date was 13 March 2026; the contract was signed on 31 March 2026. The initial contract period runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2028, with an option to extend by up to two years in increments of at least 12 months, subject to agreement. The contract value is £23.2 million excluding VAT (£27.84 million including VAT). There was one lot. The direct award was justified on the basis that changing supplier would create incompatibility with existing services and disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance.

For suppliers considering comparable future work for Nottinghamshire County Council, this award shows a substantial, integrated library, learning and cultural services requirement delivered across Nottinghamshire. The route used was a direct award to the incumbent, justified by continuity and the technical difficulties of changing provider; this makes proven ability to maintain existing operations and systems particularly relevant to a future competition. A credible supplier would need the breadth and capacity to deliver library provision alongside cultural, learning, archive and museum services, and to sustain a large-scale public service across the county. The successful organisation is a large provider with voluntary and community enterprise status. The requirement is identified as suitable for such organisations, so VCSE providers with comparable operational scale and relevant service delivery experience are well placed to demonstrate fit when this type of requirement returns to market.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Culture Learning and Libraries

Notice Description

Culture Learning and Libraries (Midlands) trading as Inspire - direct award on substantially the same terms as the current contract. The proposed new contract will commence on 1 April 2026 and end on 31 March 2028.

Procurement Information

The direct award appointment being made is via ground 7, Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) is possible due to: (a) a change in supplier would result in the contracting authority receiving goods, services or works that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing goods, services or works, and (b) the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0516af
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/091107-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

92 - Recreational, cultural and sporting services

CPV Codes

92500000 - Library, archives, museums and other cultural services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£23,200,000 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
£23,200,000 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
25 Sep 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
2 Jun 2025Expired
Award Date
13 Mar 20267 months ago
Contract Period
1 Apr 2026 - 31 Mar 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Nottinghamshire County Council
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
NOTTINGHAM
Postcode
NG2 7QP
Postcode Area
Nottingham
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLF East Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLF1 Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLF16 South Nottinghamshire
Delivery Location
TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLH East (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England)
Local Authority
Rushcliffe
Electoral Ward
Trent Bridge
Westminster Constituency
Rushcliffe

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

CULTURE, LEARNING AND LIBRARIES (MIDLANDS)

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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