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Provision of Contact Centre Services to the Legal Aid Agency

The Legal Aid Agency

This public procurement record has 12 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

29 Sep 2026 at 15:41

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

16 Jul 2026 at 16:47

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

15 Jul 2026 at 14:36

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

27 Mar 2026 at 09:54

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

20 Mar 2026 at 15:40

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
PlanningUpdate

20 Mar 2026 at 14:55

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
PlanningUpdate

07 Nov 2025 at 16:26

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
PlanningUpdate

15 Oct 2025 at 13:15

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
PlanningUpdate

14 Oct 2025 at 16:00

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
PlanningUpdate

26 Jun 2025 at 10:35

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
PlanningUpdate

25 Jun 2025 at 15:25

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Planning

23 May 2025 at 17:37

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Legal Aid Agency plans to procure contact centre services covering the Defence Solicitor Call Centre and the Civil Legal Advice Operator Service. The Defence Solicitor Call Centre logs requests, identifies and deploys defence solicitors to provide free legal advice to people detained in police custody in England and Wales. The Civil Legal Advice Operator Service assesses whether clients’ legal issues are within the scope of legal aid and whether they meet its financial eligibility requirements. Eligible clients are referred to specialist legal aid advice; others are directed to alternative sources of help. This is a combination of call centre operations, customer support and legal-service triage. The services are intended for delivery across England and Wales.

This is at planning stage: the Legal Aid Agency has set out an intention to procure, but no invitation to tender is carried here. The procurement is planned as a single lot, with the contract expected to run for four years from 1 November 2027 to 31 October 2031; renewal is indicated. The estimated value is £24.4 million excluding VAT (£29.28 million including VAT). The buyer expects to publish a further notice on 29 September 2026. Market engagement was held on 15 April 2026 and was restricted to suppliers on Lot 1, Citizen Experience, of the Outsourced Services Framework (RM6295). The engagement milestone is recorded as met. The process is limited to that framework lot; no evaluation criteria are stated at this planning stage.

This is relevant to contact-centre operators able to handle sensitive public-facing legal services at scale, including triage, eligibility assessment, referral and urgent coordination of defence solicitors. Suppliers need the operational capability to support people in police custody as well as clients seeking civil legal advice, and to direct clients appropriately when they do not qualify for legal aid. The buyer has expressly restricted the planned competition to suppliers already on Lot 1, Citizen Experience, of the Outsourced Services Framework (RM6295), so organisations outside that framework lot are not positioned to compete through this procurement. The work spans England and Wales and combines customer-service delivery with processes requiring sound understanding of legal-aid eligibility and access to specialist legal advice. SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises are identified as suitable.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Provision of Contact Centre Services to the Legal Aid Agency

Notice Description

The Legal Aid Agency ("LAA") is inviting Tenders from Lot 1 (Citizen Experience) of Outsourced Services Framework (RM6295) for contracts to deliver the LAA Contact Centre Services which comprise the Defence Solicitor Call Centre (DSCC) and the Civil Legal Advice Operator Service (CLAOS). The DSCC service manages the logging, identification and deployment of defence solicitors to provide free legal advice to clients detained in police custody in England and Wales. The CLAOS is a call centre service that assesses whether a client's legal issue is in scope of legal aid and whether they are financially eligible. If they are eligible, it refers the client to specialist advice provided through legal aid or, if not, directs clients to alternative sources of help and assistance.

Planning Information

Market Engagement to be held on 15/04/2026 and will be open only for suppliers on Lot 1 (Citizen Experience) of Outsourced Services Framework (RM6295) only.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0524f0
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/092002-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

79100000 - Legal services

79342300 - Customer services

79512000 - Call centre

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£24,400,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
29 Sep 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
29 Sep 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Nov 2027 - 31 Oct 2031 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Planned
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
The Legal Aid Agency
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
SW1H 9AJ
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
TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLH East (England), TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England), TLL Wales
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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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