AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
The Legal Aid Agency published an award notice for Stage 3 of its 2025 Standard Crime Contract, covering publicly funded criminal legal-aid services. The notice records one active, aggregated award to “Multiple Suppliers”; it does not name the individual providers or allocate value among them.
Published outcomeAward notice published; the source records an active aggregated award dated 1 October 2025, with a stated contract period to 30 September 2034.
Market significanceThis is a long-duration, UK-wide legal-services arrangement. The published data indicates a £180 million aggregated award, while the tender-level value is £1.8 billion; the notice does not reconcile these figures or provide supplier-level allocations.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
Multiple Suppliers
99% confidenceAward ocds-b5fd17-175cd64e-a512-4e44-a00e-9f9ea0109d72-1 · £180,000,000 aggregated award value; not allocated among suppliers GBP · active
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The sole award names “Multiple Suppliers” and reports £180,000,000. No individual supplier names or allocations are supplied.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Notice stage
99% confidenceAward
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Process stage is “award” and notice type is “Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder”.
Award status
98% confidenceActive
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Award ocds-b5fd17-175cd64e-a512-4e44-a00e-9f9ea0109d72-1 has status “active”.
Contract execution status
98% confidenceNot explicitly stated
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The supplied notice provides an active award and contract-period dates but does not explicitly state that contracts were signed.
Stage 3 availability
94% confidenceRemains open, subject to early termination rights
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Description states that Stage 3 remains open and the application period is intended to remain open until around 30 September 2034, subject to early termination.
VALUES
Published values explained
Award value
99% confidence£180,000,000
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The active award reports value.amount 180000000, currency GBP.
Tender-level stated value
99% confidence£1,800,000,000
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The tender value is reported as £1,800,000,000 GBP.
Value relationship
99% confidenceUnreconciled
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The source gives a £180 million award value and a £1.8 billion tender value, without explaining their relationship.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Application period opened
96% confidence1 May 2025
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Notice description states that the application period opened on 01 May 2025.
Tender deadline
99% confidence30 September 2025, 23:59 BST
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Tender period endDate is 2025-09-30T23:59:00+01:00.
Award date
99% confidence1 October 2025
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The award date is 2025-10-01T00:00:00+01:00.
Stated contract period
99% confidence1 October 2025 to 30 September 2034
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Tender and award contractPeriod fields specify these dates.
Award notice published
99% confidence20 October 2026
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Notice published_at and award datePublished are 2026-10-20T14:45:42+01:00.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Service category
99% confidenceLegal services — publicly funded criminal legal aid
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Primary CPV is 79100000, Legal services; description refers to publicly funded criminal legal aid services.
Geographic coverage
99% confidenceEngland, Wales and Northern Ireland regions listed in the notice
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Delivery addresses list nine English regions, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Lots
99% confidenceNo lots published
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The supplied lots array is empty and no award lot IDs are provided.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procedure
99% confidenceOpen procedure (below threshold)
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Tender procurementMethodDetails is “Open procedure (below threshold)”.
Competition data
99% confidenceNot published
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Information on applications, bids, scores, ranking and evaluation is not supplied in the notice data.
Supplier eligibility flags
96% confidenceSME and VCSE suitable
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Tender suitability flags state sme: true and vcse: true.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Stated term
99% confidence1 October 2025 to 30 September 2034
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Tender and award contractPeriod fields specify the start and end dates.
Early termination
93% confidenceReserved right of early termination
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Description says the application period is subject to the right of early termination.
Pricing and payment terms
99% confidenceNot published
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No pricing breakdown, payment mechanism or rate card is supplied.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Market structure
99% confidenceMulti-supplier arrangement indicated, but supplier allocation is undisclosed
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The award is assigned to “Multiple Suppliers” with no supplier list, lots or individual values.
Entry opportunity
94% confidenceStage 3 is described as remaining open
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The notice description states that Stage 3 remains open until around 30 September 2034, subject to early termination.
Value transparency
99% confidenceLimited
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The source provides aggregate tender and award values but no explanation of their relationship or allocation among providers.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Supplier disclosure limitation
99% confidenceIndividual suppliers are not named
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The notice uses the aggregate supplier name “Multiple Suppliers” and provides no underlying supplier identities.
Value inconsistency or ambiguity
99% confidence£180 million award value and £1.8 billion tender value are both published without reconciliation
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Award value is £180,000,000; tender value is £1,800,000,000.
Chronology anomaly
99% confidenceAward notice publication follows the reported award date by more than one year
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Award date is 1 October 2025; publication date is 20 October 2026.
Contract-status limitation
98% confidenceSigning or execution is not explicitly evidenced
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The source supplies an active award and dates but no explicit signed-contract field or statement.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The published notice does not name the individual awarded suppliers; “Multiple Suppliers” is an aggregate placeholder, not an identifiable legal supplier.
- No lots, supplier-level allocations or individual contract values are supplied.
- The £180 million award value and £1.8 billion tender value are not reconciled in the published data.
- The reported award date of 1 October 2025 predates the notice publication date of 20 October 2026; the source does not explain the chronology.
- Information on bid volumes, evaluation, scoring, award rationale, pricing, payment terms, extension terms and signed-contract status is not supplied in the published notice.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Legal Aid Agency2025 Standard Crime Contractcriminal legal aidlegal servicesContracts FinderStage 3
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who won the 2025 Standard Crime Contract award?
The published award names “Multiple Suppliers” only. It does not identify the individual providers.
What is the published award value?
The award record states £180 million. The tender record separately states £1.8 billion, with no explanation of the difference.
When does the stated contract period end?
The notice gives 30 September 2034 as the stated end date, subject to the source’s stated early-termination rights.
ProcuraAxis award analysis supplements, but does not replace, the official award notice, contract data or procurement documents. “Awarded” does not by itself prove that a contract has been signed.