The contract lifecycle doesn't end at award

What this guide covers

This guide maps five stages of the contract lifecycle against the legal requirements attached to each one, and where support is available at each point:

• Strategy and needs assessment: what the National Procurement Policy Statement expects before you’ve even gone to market, including commercial best practice and value for money decisions made from the outset.
• Market engagement and procurement: the KPI publication threshold that applies before award for higher-value contracts, and what a compliant route to market needs to demonstrate.
• Contract award and mobilisation: the contract details notice requirement, and how KPIs and supplier obligations need to be formally recorded from day one, not retrofitted later.
• Active contract management: the annual supplier performance assessment and publication requirement, and when a contract performance notice is required if obligations aren’t being met.
• Renewal, extension, or retender: the contract termination notice deadline that applies within 30 days of any termination, including natural expiry, and why missed renewal windows are one of the most common causes of rushed, non-compliant retendering.

Why this matters now

The Procurement Act 2023 puts significantly more weight on what happens after a contract is signed than previous legislation did. For contracts over £5 million, at least three KPIs need to be set and published before award, and supplier performance against them needs to be assessed and published at least annually after that. If a contract is terminated for any reason, including simply reaching its natural end, a termination notice is due within 30 days. None of these obligations are optional, and none of them go away just because your organisation’s procurement team is small or your systems weren’t built with this in mind. This guide sets it out stage by stage, so you can see exactly what’s required and when, rather than discovering a gap when a report, an audit, or a challenge forces the question.

Who this guide is for

This guide is relevant to any public sector contracting authority in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland, including local government, education, healthcare, central government, blue light services, defence, and the charity sector. Transferred Northern Ireland authorities have some specific variations in their obligations, which the guide notes. Scotland operates under separate procurement legislation, so if your organisation is based there, this particular guide won’t map directly to your obligations, though our team can point you towards the right information if you get in touch.

Download your copy and get the full stage-by-stage breakdown, including what the legislation requires and where support is available at each point by filling in the form above.