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

{
  "id": "071269-2026",
  "tag": [
    "planning"
  ],
  "date": "2026-07-28T14:25:26+01:00",
  "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d55f",
  "buyer": {
    "id": "GB-PPON-PTVL-7854-TMRZ",
    "name": "Carmarthenshire County Council"
  },
  "tender": {
    "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-06d55f",
    "lots": [
      {
        "id": "1",
        "status": "planning",
        "hasRenewal": true,
        "description": null,
        "suitability": {
          "sme": true
        },
        "contractPeriod": {
          "endDate": "2030-01-17T23:59:59+00:00",
          "startDate": "2027-01-18T00:00:00+00:00",
          "maxExtentDate": "2032-01-17T23:59:59+00:00"
        }
      }
    ],
    "items": [
      {
        "id": "1",
        "relatedLot": "1",
        "deliveryAddresses": [
          {
            "region": "UKL14",
            "country": "GB",
            "countryName": "United Kingdom"
          }
        ],
        "additionalClassifications": [
          {
            "id": "79980000",
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "description": "Subscription services"
          },
          {
            "id": "48160000",
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "description": "Library software package"
          },
          {
            "id": "48300000",
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "description": "Document creation, drawing, imaging, scheduling and productivity software package"
          },
          {
            "id": "79130000",
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "description": "Legal documentation and certification services"
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "title": "Online Legal Research Subscription / Online Legal Library for Local Authority Legal Services",
    "value": {
      "amount": 155000,
      "currency": "GBP",
      "amountGross": 186000
    },
    "status": "planning",
    "legalBasis": {
      "id": "2023/54",
      "uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents",
      "scheme": "UKPGA"
    },
    "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.\nThe 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.\nThe 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.\nThe 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.",
    "communication": {
      "futureNoticeDate": "2026-11-16T23:59:59+00:00"
    },
    "aboveThreshold": false,
    "mainProcurementCategory": "services"
  },
  "buyerID": [],
  "parties": [
    {
      "id": "GB-PPON-PTVL-7854-TMRZ",
      "name": "Carmarthenshire County Council",
      "roles": [
        "buyer"
      ],
      "address": {
        "region": "UKL14",
        "country": "GB",
        "locality": "Carmarthen",
        "postalCode": "SA31 1JP",
        "countryName": "United Kingdom",
        "streetAddress": "County Hall"
      },
      "details": {
        "url": "https://www.carmarthenshire.gov.wales",
        "classifications": [
          {
            "id": "publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment",
            "scheme": "UK_CA_TYPE",
            "description": "Public authority - sub-central government"
          },
          {
            "id": "GB-WLS",
            "scheme": "UK_CA_DEVOLVED_REGULATIONS",
            "description": "Welsh devolved regulations apply"
          }
        ]
      },
      "identifier": {
        "id": "PTVL-7854-TMRZ",
        "scheme": "GB-PPON"
      },
      "contactPoint": {
        "name": "Hayley Davies",
        "email": "HaLDavies@carmarthenshire.gov.uk"
      }
    }
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "planning": {
    "documents": [
      {
        "id": "071269-2026",
        "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/071269-2026",
        "format": "text/html",
        "noticeType": "UK2",
        "description": "Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender",
        "documentType": "marketEngagementNotice",
        "datePublished": "2026-07-28T14:25:26+01:00"
      }
    ],
    "milestones": [
      {
        "id": "engagement",
        "type": "engagement",
        "status": "scheduled",
        "dueDate": "2026-09-30T23:59:59+01:00",
        "description": "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.\n•\tWhether 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.\n•\tHow suppliers distinguish between English and Welsh law in devolved areas, including education, housing, social care, local government, environmental law, animal health and regulatory enforcement.\n•\tWhether suppliers can provide substantive Wales-specific commentary, guidance and precedents, rather than limited recognition that the law differs in Wales.\n•\tThe 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.\n•\tThe availability, reliability and limitations of AI-assisted search, natural language search, document analysis, saved searches, alerts and research workflow tools.\n•\tAvailable licence models, including named users, concurrent users, module-based access and recommendations for local authority legal teams.\n•\tTechnical requirements including cloud access, remote access, single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, usage analytics, reporting, data protection, security and support arrangements.\n•\tIndicative pricing, contract length, renewal arrangements, implementation timescales, training, account management and service level commitments.\n•\tAvailability through public sector purchasing arrangements.\n•\tAny aspects of the Council’s emerging requirement that may restrict competition, be disproportionate, or could be delivered through a different structure.\nResponse format: Online sessions will commence early September 2026.  \nInterested parties should contact Hayley Davies via email at haldavies@carmarthenshire.gov.uk to register interest and schedule a Teams call in September. \nConfidentiality: 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.\nNo commitment: This notice does not constitute an invitation to tender. The Council is not obliged to proceed with procurement or award a contract."
      }
    ]
  },
  "initiationType": "tender"
}