Award

Public Analyst Training

FOOD STANDARDS AGENCY

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

01 May 2026 at 08:09

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

29 Apr 2026 at 10:58

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has awarded a contract for public analyst training to LGC Limited. This procurement, titled "Public Analyst Training," falls under the services category and involves specialist training services. Based in York, the FSA, a central government authority, is focusing on enhancing the skills required for chemical and compositional food sampling by local authorities to ensure safety and compliance with the Food Safety Act 1990. This contract, with a gross value of £224,000.40, followed a direct award procurement method due to the specialised nature of the services required, and it is scheduled to run from 18th May 2026 to 31st March 2029, with a potential extension of two years.

This contract presents opportunities for businesses involved in specialist training services and research development sectors. Companies with expertise in chemical analysis training and a background in regulatory compliance are well-suited to engage as suppliers for this project. The collaboration with FSA could boost business growth through enhancing industry reputation and fostering long-term partnerships. The contract directly benefits organisations capable of designing and implementing high-level training programmes aligned with regulatory standards, thus ensuring a robust pipeline of qualified public analysts essential for maintaining food safety standards in the UK.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Public Analyst Training

Notice Description

The Food Safety Act 1990 requires LAs to appoint PAs for chemical and compositional food sampling in a legal context and provide a CoA which is admissible as evidence in criminal proceedings. The MChemA qualification needed to become a PA is rightly challenging to achieve as it ensures extensive knowledge in chemical analysis and competence in providing an expert legal opinion on the quality, safety and probity of food. As some analyses require being tested under the direction of a PA or require the PA to undertake the test themselves due to the need for specialised training, a reduction in the number of PAs hugely reduces the capacity of PA OLs. Moreover, PA OLs who lose their PA due to retirement, or fail to appoint one, will lose their ability to test samples under the Food Safety Act 1990 leading to an inability for LAs to take enforcement action. Funding the training and continued professional development (CPD) of PAs and providing funding to backfill desk analyst roles in the laboratory could improve capacity and capability in PA OLs as outlined in the FSA Board Paper 2022. Providing such a succession plan will guarantee the future of the PA profession and the PA OL system. The project must demonstrate the design and delivery of a training programme which supports the development of PA trainees' skills, knowledge, and experience in a PA OL throughout their MChemA. This should enable trainees to be better equipped to become practising PAs and therefore support the succession planning of PAs in PA OLs, to ensure that they can continue to act as PA OLs in the future.

Procurement Information

This procurement satisfies the criteria for Direct Award in Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023, which permits award due to absence of Competition for Technical Reasons/ No reasonable alternatives The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract-- 1. due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and 2. there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-068dcf
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/040261-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

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

80 - Education and training services

CPV Codes

73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

79633000 - Staff development services

80510000 - Specialist training services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£186,667 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
1 May 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
28 Apr 20262 weeks ago
Contract Period
17 May 2026 - 31 Mar 2029 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
FOOD STANDARDS 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
YORK
Postcode
YO1 7PR
Post Town
York
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLE Yorkshire and The Humber
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLE2 North Yorkshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLE21 York
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
York
Electoral Ward
Guildhall
Westminster Constituency
York Central

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

LGC

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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