---
title: "NLA Media Access Licence for Newspaper Content"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06ad92"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06ad92"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06ad92.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06ad92.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR WORK & PENSIONS"
published: "2026-06-17"
---

# NLA Media Access Licence for Newspaper Content

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR WORK & PENSIONS  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06ad92

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## Summary

The Department for Work & Pensions has awarded a contract to NLA Media Access for the NLA Media Access Licence for Newspaper Content. This contract, which falls under the services category of subscription services, pertains to providing legally compliant access to UK and international news content for operational activities, media monitoring, and strategic communications. The procurement, conducted via a direct award under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023, was necessary due to NLA's exclusive rights as the sole entity authorised to license such content. The contract commenced on 17th June 2026 and will end on 31st March 2027, covering services across the United Kingdom with the total contract value being £299,226.72 Gross.

This procurement process, classified under direct award due to exclusive intellectual property rights, presents limited opportunities for other businesses given the specific requirements and rights involved. However, related industries, such as those providing supplementary media analysis or content management services, might find indirect growth opportunities through offering supportive services to organisations like the Department for Work & Pensions. Whilst the direct award limits competition, businesses focusing on creating or managing compliant digital media content could explore potential collaborations with industry publishers represented by NLA Media Access.

## Notice

DWP requires ongoing, legally compliant access to UK and international news content to support operational activity, media monitoring, and strategic communications. The Department for Work and Pensions ("the Authority") intends to award this contract directly to NLA Media Access Limited ("NLA") in accordance with Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 ("PA23"). This is justified on the basis that the services can be supplied only by a particular supplier due to the existence of exclusive rights (paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 PA23). NLA is the collective licensing body representing a wide range of UK newspaper and magazine publishers and is the only organisation currently authorised to grant licences permitting the copying, sharing and internal distribution of such content across multiple publishers. There is no reasonable alternative or substitute capable of providing an equivalent service, and the absence of competition is not the result of any artificial narrowing of the Authority's requirements. This notice is being published after the commencement of the contract in order to ensure transparency in respect of the Authority's decision to make this direct award. Due to the urgent requirement to ensure continuity of lawful access to licensed content, the contract was awarded prior to publication of this notice. The Authority acknowledges that the notice was not issued in advance of the contract award and is now publishing this information to provide visibility of the justification and the Authority's obligations under the Procurement Act 2023.

### Procurement Information

The Department for Work and Pensions ("the Authority") intends to award this contract directly to NLA Media Access Limited ("NLA") in accordance with Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 ("PA23"). This is justified on the basis that the services can be supplied only by a particular supplier due to the existence of exclusive rights (paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 PA23). NLA is the collective licensing body representing a wide range of UK newspaper and magazine publishers and is the only organisation currently authorised to grant licences permitting the copying, sharing and internal distribution of such content across multiple publishers. There is no reasonable alternative or substitute capable of providing an equivalent service, and the absence of competition is not the result of any artificial narrowing of the Authority's requirements. This notice is being published after the commencement of the contract in order to ensure transparency in respect of the Authority's decision to make this direct award. Due to the urgent requirement to ensure continuity of lawful access to licensed content, the contract was awarded prior to publication of this notice. The Authority acknowledges that the notice was not issued in advance of the contract award and is now publishing this information to provide visibility of the justification and the Authority's obligations under the Procurement Act 2023.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057156-2026 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 17 Jun 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 31 Mar 2026 |
| Contract period | 16 Jun 2026 - 31 Mar 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £249,355 |
| Contracts value | £249,355 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Active, Pending |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR WORK & PENSIONS |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1H 9NA |
| 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 | NLA MEDIA ACCESS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79980000 - Subscription services

## Release History

- 17 Jun 2026 at 13:13 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057156-2026
- 4 Jun 2026 at 13:00 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/052839-2026
- 4 Jun 2026 at 12:52 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/052830-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057156-2026
  17th June 2026 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/052839-2026
  4th June 2026 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/052830-2026
  4th June 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## 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-h6vhtk-06ad92. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06ad92.json.