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EM Lawshare Framework Agreement for Legal Services

West Northamptonshire Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Tender

18 Sep 2026 at 12:30

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

West Northamptonshire Council is procuring a closed framework for legal services on behalf of the EM Lawshare consortium. The framework will support public bodies across England and Wales, including local authorities, parish councils, wholly owned local authority companies, blue-light services, NHS bodies, police and crime commissioners, universities and colleges. Services cover ten areas of work encompassing the major categories of legal work required by local authorities, except childcare work. Appointed private law firms must be able to respond across all ten areas, so the requirement is for broad-based public sector legal capability rather than a single specialist service. Delivery will be for consortium members across England and Wales, with West Northamptonshire Council acting as the lead authority.

The procurement has reached tender: the authority invited suppliers to participate through a selective Competitive Flexible procedure under the Procurement Act 2023, using a light-touch regime and electronic submission through the In-Tend portal. The initial PSQ clarification deadline is 5pm on 5 October 2026, with PSQ responses due by midday on 19 October 2026; shortlisted bidders are scheduled to submit tender responses by midday on 4 December 2026. The framework is not divided into lots and will appoint ten firms. Its maximum value is £1 billion excluding VAT (£1.2 billion including VAT). The initial contract period is 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2031, with two possible one-year extensions to 31 March 2033. Quality and price each carry 50% of the evaluation weighting.

This opportunity suits private law firms with substantial, multi-disciplinary experience of advising public sector clients, particularly local authorities and other bodies eligible to join EM Lawshare. Suppliers need the breadth and capacity to handle requirements across all ten specified areas of legal work, rather than bidding for a narrow lot or specialism. The framework is marked as suitable for SMEs, although appointed firms must be able to provide services across the full scope, individually or jointly, and deliver the added-value services required by the specification. Firms should also allow for a management fee calculated from invoiced income and for a win-related participation fee. Consortium membership is required for authorities using the framework, but members are not committed to place work or provide minimum volumes.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

EM Lawshare Framework Agreement for Legal Services

Notice Description

West Northamptonshire Council (the Authority) is acting as lead authority and running this procurement on behalf of the EM Lawshare (EMLS). This procurement is being conducted in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 and is being conducted through the Competitive Flexible procedure to identify the Potential Suppliers for the requirement. This is a Light Touch procurement. EMLS is a consortium of public bodies (the Consortium) that have been procuring legal services frameworks over the last 20 years. This procurement is for a new framework agreement to replace an existing one that is expiring on 31 March 2026. Contracting authorities will be required to be members of the Consortium in order to use the new framework agreement. There are just over 240 contracting authorities signed up as members to use the existing framework agreement. 82% of these are local authorities and parish councils located in England and the remaining 18% is made up of wholly owned local authority subsidiary companies, blue light services, park authorities, combined authorities, NHS bodies, police and crime commissioners, universities and colleges. A full list of current members signed up to use the existing framework can be seen by using this link to the EMLS website: https://emlawshare.co.uk/directory/ The number of contracting authorities signed up to use the current framework has grown significantly from the number using the initial framework set up 20 years ago when seven local authorities in the East Midlands initially started undertaking procurements as a consortium. The range of users has also spread geographically so it now extends country wide and includes some of the largest local authorities in the country such as: Birmingham, Leeds, Bristol, Nottingham and Sheffield City councils and Cornwall, Kent, Somerset, Derbyshire, Oxfordshire and North Yorkshire councils. The EMLS has now formalised its consortium arrangements in the form of a new Consortium Agreement intended to strengthen the consortium's governance arrangements in anticipation of this tender for a new framework. The agreement is available on the publicly accessible part of the EMLS's website so that any bidder interested in understanding the EMLS's governance and operating arrangements can view it - see [Insert link to webpage]. All contracting authorities (as defined in the Procurement Act 2023) in England & Wales will be eligible to join the Consortium, either before or during the term of the new framework agreement, to have access to use the framework. Contracting authorities that are not local authorities require approval of the Consortium Board to join the Consortium, whereas local authorities do not. The closed framework agreement will deliver legal services to members of the Consortium. These services will sit under ten areas of work. These include every major category of work dealt with by local authorities other than child care work. The scope of the services is further detailed in the Specification. The framework agreement will not be split into lots as the appointed firms are required to be able to respond to requirements across all of the ten areas of work. The framework agreement will have 10 private law firms appointed to it. The framework agreement will have a maximum total value of PS1 billion (exclusive of VAT) for the delivery of the requirements as set out in the Specification. The framework agreement will not bind any Consortium member to use the appointed firms nor will any guarantee be given as to the minimum levels of work which will be awarded under the framework. The Consortium will during the course of the framework agreement charge appointed firms a management fee calculated as a percentage based on a sliding scale of the income they invoice to Consortium members each year (net of VAT and disbursements), as detailed in the Invitation to Tender. Firms appointed to the framework will be required, jointly & /or solely, to provide certain added value services as part of the contract. These are detailed in the Specification. Annual indexation to the pricing will apply from the third contract year of the framework agreement. Please refer to Schedule 4, paragraph 1 of the framework agreement for further details. A conflicts assessment has been prepared and revised in accordance with Section 83. If your organisation wishes to participate in this process, you need to register with In-Tend Portal. You will be unable to take part if you do not register. Please use the link below and follow the instructions on the website: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/wnc/aspx/Home Tenders must be returned via the Portal. The tender return date is midday on Monday 19th October 2026. Tenders received after this time and date will not be accepted.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: An option to extend for a further two individual periods of 1 year.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-077560
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/088655-2026
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK4 - Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
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

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£1,000,000,000 £1B-£10B
Lots Value
£1,000,000,000 £1B-£10B
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
18 Sep 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Apr 2027 - 31 Mar 2031 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
West Northamptonshire 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
NORTHAMPTON
Postcode
NN1 1ED
Postcode Area
Northampton
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLF East Midlands (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLF2 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLF24 West Northamptonshire
Delivery Location
TLF2 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire
Local Authority
West Northamptonshire
Electoral Ward
Castle
Westminster Constituency
Northampton North

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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