Planning

Ask AI about this notice

Summarise, research or assess it with AI

View Markdown

Share this notice

Send this contract to a colleague

Online Legal Research Subscription / Online Legal Library for Local Authority Legal Services

Carmarthenshire County Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

28 Jul 2026 at 14:25

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Carmarthenshire County Council is exploring an online legal research and legal library subscription for its in-house Legal Services team. The service would be a secure, cloud-based platform supporting lawyers who advise across the Council’s functions. Expected content includes UK legislation from the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly and Welsh Senedd; retained EU law; reported and relevant unreported cases; tribunal decisions; legal commentary; practical guidance; legal encyclopaedias; reference works; and editable or downloadable precedents. A key focus is authoritative coverage of Welsh law in devolved areas, including education, housing, social care, local government, environmental law and regulatory enforcement. The service would be delivered for Carmarthenshire County Council in Wales and is classified as a subscription service, library software and legal documentation service.

This is preliminary market engagement at the planning stage, not an invitation to tender. The Council intends to gather supplier feedback through online Teams sessions beginning in early September 2026, with interested organisations asked to register and schedule a session by 30 September 2026. The engagement will inform the procurement strategy, specification, route to market and any future tender documentation. A subsequent notice is currently expected on 16 November 2026. The planned requirement is one lot, with an estimated value of £155,000 excluding VAT (£186,000 including VAT). The anticipated contract period is 18 January 2027 to 17 January 2030, with renewal provision potentially extending the arrangement to 17 January 2032. The procurement remains planned and its future route to market is under consideration.

The requirement would suit legal information publishers, legal research platform providers and software suppliers able to offer an integrated service to a local authority legal team. Strong candidates will provide comprehensive primary and secondary legal content, including Wales-specific commentary, guidance and precedents rather than English-focused material with limited Welsh coverage. The Council is seeking reliable AI-assisted and natural-language search, document analysis, saved searches, alerts and research workflow tools. Relevant technical capability includes secure cloud and remote access, single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, data protection, usage analytics, reporting and dependable support. Suppliers should be prepared to explain licensing models, implementation, onboarding, training, account management, service levels and access through public sector purchasing arrangements. Small and medium-sized enterprises are identified as suitable for the planned requirement, and providers may also contribute through consortium or framework arrangements.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Online Legal Research Subscription / Online Legal Library for Local Authority Legal Services

Notice Description

Carmarthenshire County Council wishes to undertake preliminary market engagement in relation to the provision of an online legal research and legal library subscription service for its in-house Legal Services team. The Council invites interested organisations to register their interest and request further information in relation to the provision of this service. This invitation is issued for information-gathering and early market engagement purposes only and does not constitute a commitment to proceed with any future procurement process. The Council is exploring the market for a secure, cloud-based online legal research platform capable of providing comprehensive access to UK legislation, retained EU law, case law, legal commentary, practical guidance, precedents, legal encyclopaedias, reference works, training and support. The requirement is primarily to support in-house local authority lawyers delivering legal advice and services across a wide range of Council functions. The Council requires market insight on whether suitable providers can offer a comprehensive legal research service covering primary and secondary legislation from the UK Parliament, Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly and Welsh Senedd; retained EU law applicable in the UK; reported and relevant unreported UK cases and tribunal decisions; practical guidance; authoritative commentary; legal reference books; legal encyclopaedias; and editable/downloadable precedents. A critical requirement is the ability to reflect the latest legal position in Wales in devolved areas of law, rather than providing English-centric content with only limited Welsh coverage. The Council is particularly interested in understanding the availability of one-stop-shop or integrated legal research platforms, including solutions that incorporate reliable AI-assisted legal search, natural language searching, document analysis, alerts, saved searches, usage analytics, remote access, single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, onboarding, training and ongoing account management.

Planning Information

The Council seeks market feedback on supplier capability, available platforms, Wales-specific content coverage, AI-assisted legal research functionality, access and security arrangements, licensing models, service levels, training and implementation support, pricing structures, framework or consortium availability, and any alternative approaches that could meet the Council’s requirement. • Whether suppliers can provide comprehensive coverage of UK legislation, retained EU law, case law, tribunal decisions, legal commentary, practical guidance, precedents, legal encyclopaedias and specialist reference works. • How suppliers distinguish between English and Welsh law in devolved areas, including education, housing, social care, local government, environmental law, animal health and regulatory enforcement. • Whether suppliers can provide substantive Wales-specific commentary, guidance and precedents, rather than limited recognition that the law differs in Wales. • The extent of coverage across local government, planning and building control, highways and public rights of way, contracts and procurement, subsidy control, property, civil and criminal litigation, employment, data protection, freedom of information, safeguarding, education, housing, insolvency, company law, construction and public law. • The availability, reliability and limitations of AI-assisted search, natural language search, document analysis, saved searches, alerts and research workflow tools. • Available licence models, including named users, concurrent users, module-based access and recommendations for local authority legal teams. • Technical requirements including cloud access, remote access, single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, usage analytics, reporting, data protection, security and support arrangements. • Indicative pricing, contract length, renewal arrangements, implementation timescales, training, account management and service level commitments. • Availability through public sector purchasing arrangements. • Any aspects of the Council’s emerging requirement that may restrict competition, be disproportionate, or could be delivered through a different structure. Response format: Online sessions will commence early September 2026. Interested parties should contact Hayley Davies via email at haldavies@carmarthenshire.gov.uk to register interest and schedule a Teams call in September. Confidentiality: Responses will be treated as commercially confidential where appropriate. Suppliers should clearly identify any information they consider commercially sensitive. Aggregated and anonymised feedback may be used to inform the Council’s procurement strategy, specification, route to market and any future tender documentation. No commitment: This notice does not constitute an invitation to tender. The Council is not obliged to proceed with procurement or award a contract.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d55f
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/071269-2026
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
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

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

CPV Codes

48160000 - Library software package

48300000 - Document creation, drawing, imaging, scheduling and productivity software package

79130000 - Legal documentation and certification services

79980000 - Subscription services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£155,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
28 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
16 Nov 20262 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
18 Jan 2027 - 17 Jan 2030 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Carmarthenshire 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
CARMARTHEN
Postcode
SA31 1JP
Postcode Area
Swansea
Country
Wales
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLL Wales
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLL4 Mid and South West Wales
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLL42 South West Wales
Delivery Location
TLL14 South West Wales
Local Authority
Carmarthenshire
Electoral Ward
Carmarthen Town North and South
Westminster Constituency
Caerfyrddin

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

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.

Loading OCDS record...