AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
Burnley Borough Council has concluded two signed deeds of variation with BURNLEY LEISURE AND CULTURE to extend an existing strategic partnership for leisure and cultural services in Burnley. The contracts run from 1 April 2029 to 31 March 2031, with a possible extension to 31 March 2032 at the council’s discretion.
Published outcomeBURNLEY LEISURE AND CULTURE is the verified supplier on both active awards. The notice reports two contracts, each with a gross value of £3,739,872 (£3,116,560 excluding VAT); it is unclear whether these are separate values or duplicated reporting of a shared arrangement, so no combined or supplier-attributed total is stated.
Market significanceThis is a direct award modification intended to preserve continuity of leisure and cultural services through Lancashire local government reorganisation.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
2 supplier records analysed
BURNLEY LEISURE AND CULTURE
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · £3,116,560 excluding VAT; £3,739,872 including VAT GBP · active
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Award 1 names BURNLEY LEISURE AND CULTURE (Companies House number 08737838); contract 1 is linked to award 1 and reports these values.
BURNLEY LEISURE AND CULTURE
99% confidenceAward 2 · Lots 1 · £3,116,560 excluding VAT; £3,739,872 including VAT GBP · active
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Award 2 names BURNLEY LEISURE AND CULTURE (Companies House number 08737838); contract 2 is linked to award 2 and reports these values.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Notice status
98% confidenceComplete / awarded
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The tender status is "complete" and the process display status is "awarded".
Contract status
98% confidenceActive
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Both contracts are recorded with status "active".
Signed contract evidence
99% confidenceSigned on 23 September 2026
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Both contract records state dateSigned: 2026-09-23 and link to documents typed "contractSigned".
Contract commencement
99% confidence1 April 2029
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Both contract periods state startDate: 2029-04-01.
VALUES
Published values explained
Contract 1 value
99% confidence£3,116,560 excluding VAT; £3,739,872 including VAT
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Contract 1 value reports amount £3,116,560 and amountGross £3,739,872 in GBP.
Contract 2 value
99% confidence£3,116,560 excluding VAT; £3,739,872 including VAT
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Contract 2 value reports amount £3,116,560 and amountGross £3,739,872 in GBP.
Value interpretation
95% confidenceNo aggregate value stated
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The two contracts carry identical reported values, but the notice does not say whether they are additive or alternative/duplicated representations of the same commercial arrangement.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Initial transparency notice
98% confidence26 May 2026
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Release history records transparency notice 048815-2026 on 2026-05-26.
Deeds signed
99% confidence23 September 2026
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Both contract records give dateSigned as 2026-09-23.
Contract details notice published
99% confidence21 October 2026
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Release history and contract documents record notice 099419-2026 as published on 2026-10-21.
Contract term
99% confidence1 April 2029 to 31 March 2031
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Both contract periods state these start and end dates.
Maximum stated extent
99% confidence31 March 2032
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Both contracts state maxExtentDate: 2032-03-31.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Service scope
98% confidenceLeisure and cultural services and activities for the Borough of Burnley
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The notice description says the variation extends the existing funding and management agreement to provide these services and activities.
Procurement category
99% confidenceServices
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Both awards specify mainProcurementCategory as services.
CPV classification
99% confidence92000000 — Recreational, cultural and sporting services
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Each award item includes this CPV classification.
Delivery area
95% confidenceUKD46
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Award items specify delivery addresses in region UKD46.
Contract instruments
99% confidenceDeed of Variation relating to the Funding and Management Agreement; Deed of Variation relating to the Business Transfer Agreement
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These are the respective titles of contracts 1 and 2.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procedure
99% confidenceDirect award
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The tender procurementMethod is "direct" and procurementMethodDetails is "Direct award".
Direct-award rationale
98% confidenceContinuity through local government reorganisation
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The stated rationale cites insufficient management capacity before reorganisation, cost and limited expected competition for a new procurement, avoidance of binding a successor authority to a long-term borough-level partnership, and reduced risk of disruption to core services.
Legal modification basis cited
96% confidenceSchedule 8, regulation 74 of the Procurement Act 2023
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The procurement rationale states that the extension falls within permitted modifications under this provision.
Competition information
99% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice.
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No bid count, bidder list, evaluation method or scoring is provided.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Base term
99% confidence2 years
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Both contracts run from 1 April 2029 to 31 March 2031.
Extension provision
99% confidencePossible extension to 31 March 2032 at the council’s discretion
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Both contracts have hasRenewal: true, renewal description "At discretion of the council", and maxExtentDate of 2032-03-31.
Performance metrics
97% confidenceAnnual observations for memberships, theatre tickets and throughput; contract 1 also lists number of health records, while contract 2 lists number of health referrals.
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The agreedMetrics in the two contract records specify these measures with 12-month observation periods.
Pricing detail
99% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice.
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Only total net and gross contract values are provided; no pricing schedule or cost breakdown is included.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Continuity arrangement
98% confidenceThe procurement extends an existing funding and management relationship rather than appointing a newly competed provider.
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The notice description calls this an extension of an existing funding and management agreement, and the procedure is a direct award.
Successor-authority context
97% confidenceThe council states that the short continuity period is intended to allow a successor authority to plan any transition after local government reorganisation.
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This is stated in the direct-award rationale.
Commercial value comparability
97% confidenceThe reported values should not be summed without clarification.
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Two linked deeds report identical values for the same supplier, lot, term and service classification, without explaining whether each value is independently additive.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Multiple-contract value ambiguity
99% confidenceTwo active contracts linked to separate awards report identical values, supplier, lot and term; the notice does not establish whether the amounts are cumulative or duplicated/alternative reporting.
View supporting evidence
Contracts 1 and 2 each report £3,116,560 net and £3,739,872 gross, are linked to awards 1 and 2 respectively, and each relates to lot 1.
Lot information
99% confidenceLot 1 has no published title, description or individual lot value.
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Lot 1 is recorded only with ID and complete status.
Award dates
99% confidenceInformation not supplied in the published notice.
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Both award records have null award_date.
Conflict-of-interest publication
99% confidenceConflict-of-interest information is marked "Not published".
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The tender documents list a conflictOfInterest document with description "Not published".
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The notice reports two contracts with identical values but does not clarify whether those amounts are separate, cumulative commitments or duplicate/alternative reporting; no aggregate value has therefore been calculated.
- Information not supplied in the published notice: award dates, bidder numbers, evaluation information, scores, lot title, lot description, individual lot value and pricing breakdown.
- The source does not state whether the discretionary extension will be exercised.
- Conflict-of-interest information is identified as not published.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Burnley Borough CouncilBURNLEY LEISURE AND CULTUREleisure servicescultural servicesdirect awarddeed of variationProcurement Act 2023
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who is the supplier?
The verified supplier on both awards is BURNLEY LEISURE AND CULTURE, company number 08737838.
When do the contracts run?
The stated base term runs from 1 April 2029 to 31 March 2031, with a discretionary extension that could take the arrangement to 31 March 2032.
What is the contract value?
Each of two reported contracts shows £3,116,560 excluding VAT and £3,739,872 including VAT. The notice does not clarify whether these identical values should be added together.
Why was a direct award used?
The council cites local government reorganisation, limited capacity for a new procurement, continuity of core services and the need to avoid constraining a successor authority.
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.