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Published 23 May 2025, 17:37 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Provision of Contact Centre Services to the Legal Aid Agency

Official notice Competition analysis

Authority: The Legal Aid Agency

ServicesAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Sectors: Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: UKNorth East (UKC)North West (UKD)
+6 moreEast Midlands (UKF)West Midlands (UKG)East of England (UKH)South East (UKJ)South West (UKK)Wales (UKL)
Planned pipeline value£24,400,000pipeline notice, not a live tender · 2 value updates
Tender notice expected 29 Sept 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrsends 31 Oct 2031 · up to 31 Oct 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Nov 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Legal Aid Agency (“LAA”) is inviting Tenders from Lot 1 (Citizen Experience) of Outsourced Services Framework (RM6295) for contracts to deliver the LAA Contact Centre Services which comprise the Defence Solicitor Call Centre (DSCC) and the Civil Legal Advice Operator Service (CLAOS).

The DSCC service manages the logging, identification and deployment of defence solicitors to provide free legal advice to clients detained in police custody in England and Wales.

The CLAOS is a call centre service that assesses whether a client's legal issue is in scope of legal aid and whether they are financially eligible. If they are eligible, it refers the client to specialist advice provided through legal aid or, if not, directs clients to alternative sources of help and assistance.

CPV: Call centre · Customer services · Legal services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 4 yrsSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Nov 2027 – 31 Oct 2031 (4 yrs) · up to 31 Oct 2031 with extensions
Delivery: UK, North East, North West, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, South East, South West, WalesEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published
79100000 Legal services79342300 Customer services79512000 Call centre

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How The Legal Aid Agency buys Legal services (CPV 7910), and who usually turns up

The Legal Aid Agency’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Legal services (CPV 7910) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerThe Legal Aid Agency · division 79
The marketLegal services (CPV 7910)
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 11 of 11 known-size awards · market: no supplier sizes published
100%—

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no winner locations published · market: no winner locations published
——

No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the delivery region.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no decision dates published · market: no decision dates published
——

No decision dates published to compare.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 procurements with awards; rival share unknown · market: no bid counts or routes published
——

Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.

2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 791048 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£24m
Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 77 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet12% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 77 similar lots
1 bid12%
9 of 77 similar past lots received 1 bid (12%).
2–329%
22 of 77 similar past lots received 2–3 (29%).
4–621%
16 of 77 similar past lots received 4–6 (21%).
7+39%
30 of 77 similar past lots received 7+ (39%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £24m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Light touch regime
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
23 May 2025, 17:37 BST
Last source update
29 Sept 2026, 15:41 BST
Authority reference
LAA - DSCC/CLAOS 2027
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-092002
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Call centreCustomer servicesLegal services
Delivery area
UKNorth East (UKC)North West (UKD)East Midlands (UKF)West Midlands (UKG)East of England (UKH)South East (UKJ)South West (UKK)
+1 moreWales (UKL)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0524f0 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

23 May 2025 → 1 Nov 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published
    23 May 2025, 17:37 BST
  2. Market engagement177 days ago · met
    28 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST

    Market Engagement to be held on 15/04/2026 and will be open only for suppliers on Lot 1 (Citizen Experience) of Outsourced Services Framework (RM6295) only.

  3. Latest notice published23 days ago
    29 Sept 2026, 15:41 BST
  4. Tender notice expected23 days ago
    29 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
  5. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  6. Contract startsin 374 days
    1 Nov 2027

Notice history

14 events · 12 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 May 2025
  1. Pipeline notice published
    23 May 2025, 17:37 BST
    UK1
  2. Pipeline notice published
    25 Jun 2025, 15:25 BST
    UK1
  3. Pipeline notice published
    26 Jun 2025, 10:35 BST
    UK1
  4. Pipeline notice published
    14 Oct 2025, 16:00 BST
    UK1
  5. Published value updated to £20,000,000
    14 Oct 2025, 16:00 BST
    was £17,572,000
  6. Pipeline notice published
    15 Oct 2025, 13:15 BST
    UK1
  7. Pipeline notice published
    7 Nov 2025, 16:26 GMT
    UK1
  8. Pipeline notice published
    20 Mar 2026, 14:55 GMT
    UK1
  9. Published value updated to £24,400,000
    20 Mar 2026, 14:55 GMT
    was £20,000,000
  10. Pipeline notice published
    20 Mar 2026, 15:40 GMT
    UK1
  11. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    27 Mar 2026, 09:54 GMT
    UK2
  12. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    15 Jul 2026, 14:36 BST
    UK2
  13. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    16 Jul 2026, 16:47 BST
    UK2
  14. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    29 Sept 2026, 15:41 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (8)

The LAA has updated this notice to reflect a change in contract length from 3 years to 3 years plus an additional year. The contract end date is now 30 September 2031 (previously 30 September 2030), and the total value has increased from £18.3 million to £20 million (both including VAT). This notice has been revised accordingly.

The LAA has updated this notice to reflect a change in contract length from 3 years to 3 years plus an additional year. The contract end date is now 30 September 2031 (previously 30 September 2030), and the total value has increased from £18.3 million to £24 million (both including VAT). This notice has been revised accordingly.

The LAA has updated this notice to reflect a change in contract length from 3 years to 3 years plus an additional year. The contract end date is now 30 September 2031 (previously 30 September 2030), and the total value has increased from £18.3 million to £24 million (both including VAT). This notice has been revised accordingly.

The LAA has updated this notice to reflect a change in contract length from 3 years to 3 years plus an additional year. The contract end date is now 31 October 2031 (previously 30 September 2031), and the total value has increased from £24.4million to £29.2million (both including VAT). Under Procedure there is a change from Light Touch to No Special Regime. This notice has been revised accordingly…

The LAA has updated this notice to reflect the following: change in contract length from 3 years to 3 years plus an additional year. The contract end date is now 31 October 2031 (previously 30 September 2031), Total value has increased from £24.4million to £29.2million (both including VAT). Under Procedure there is a change from Light Touch to No Special Regime. Under Procurement Description it h…

Routine re-releases (12)
  • 2026-03: 3 releases · 20 Mar 2026, 27 Mar 2026
  • 2025-11: 1 release · 7 Nov 2025
  • 2025-10: 2 releases · 14 Oct 2025, 15 Oct 2025
  • 2025-06: 2 releases · 25 Jun 2025, 26 Jun 2025
  • 2025-05: 1 release · 23 May 2025

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Legal Aid Agency

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PNZC-2236-JJJZ 102 Petty France, London, London, SW1H 9AJContact email

Official documents & specifications (12)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

Show 4 more notices
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender