---
title: "Core Infrastructure - BAU Legal Support"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-dca0e224-98f8-4387-9ff5-a289c19d8db9"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-dca0e224-98f8-4387-9ff5-a289c19d8db9"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-dca0e224-98f8-4387-9ff5-a289c19d8db9.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-dca0e224-98f8-4387-9ff5-a289c19d8db9.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD & RURAL AFFAIRS"
published: "2026-10-06"
---

# Core Infrastructure - BAU Legal Support

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD & RURAL AFFAIRS  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-dca0e224-98f8-4387-9ff5-a289c19d8db9

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## Summary

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) procured ad hoc legal advisory support for a group of strategic IT contracts. The work covers contract management and interpretation; supplier relationships and disputes; governance and collaboration; transition and exit; procurement and contract modifications; employment, TUPE and pensions; commercial and financial matters; security, data and regulatory issues; and technology and artificial intelligence. This is specialist legal services work supporting Defra’s management of its IT contracts. The delivery location is described as the United Kingdom, with a London address also associated with the procurement. The scope spans the commercial and operational lifecycle of strategic technology contracts, rather than a single legal issue or one-off transaction.

The procurement is complete and has been awarded to DLA Piper UK LLP. Defra used a selective procedure as a call-off from a framework agreement. The stated tender value and awarded contract value are each £350,000. The award date was 5 October 2026, and the contract period runs from 5 October 2026 to 30 September 2028. The procurement was not divided into lots. The stated scope is a single package of ad hoc legal support across Defra’s strategic IT contracts. The opportunity was marked unsuitable for SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises. No evaluation criteria are set out in the available procurement details.

This award demonstrates demand from Defra for continuing, on-call legal advice across strategic IT contracts, delivered through a framework call-off. A credible competitor when this requirement next reaches the market would need a legal practice able to advise across the full technology-contract lifecycle: contract interpretation and management, supplier disputes, governance, transition and exit, procurement changes, TUPE and pensions, commercial matters, and security, data, regulation and AI. The broad scope favours a team able to combine public procurement and commercial contracting expertise with employment and technology-law capability, and to respond to varied issues as they arise. The buyer’s SME and VCSE suitability assessment indicates that this requirement was not considered suitable for those organisation types; firms should therefore assess whether their scale and breadth of expertise match the buyer’s requirement.

## Notice

Contract for Ad Hoc legal support for a group of strategic IT contracts, including advice on: Contract Management and Interpretation Supplier Relationship and Dispute Resolution Governance and Collaboration Transition and Exit Procurement and Modification Advice Employment, TUPE and Pensions Commercial and Financial Matters Security, Data, and Regulatory Issues Technology and AI

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/ea666420-f0eb-42f6-b182-a3e2451cbdb6 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Call-off from a framework agreement |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 6 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 5 Oct 2026 |
| Contract period | 5 Oct 2026 - 30 Sep 2028 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £350,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £350,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD & RURAL AFFAIRS |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Postcode area | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 4DF |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | DLA Piper UK LLP |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79111000 - Legal advisory services

## Release History

- 6 Oct 2026 at 16:19 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/ea666420-f0eb-42f6-b182-a3e2451cbdb6

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/ea666420-f0eb-42f6-b182-a3e2451cbdb6
  6th October 2026 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/ed1aa6c3-915b-4fac-b555-9d57edfe5c1f
  C35714-Framework-Schedule-6-Order-Form_Redacted

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-dca0e224-98f8-4387-9ff5-a289c19d8db9. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-dca0e224-98f8-4387-9ff5-a289c19d8db9.json.