Winston Intelligence

Procurement Act supplier guide

Read the notice as a signal, not the whole procurement.

The UK1–UK17 labels distinguish planning, competition, award, contract and market records. First identify the legal regime and exact notice type; then take only the action that record supports.

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Find published activity in ScoutSee the lifecycle first
  1. UK1–3Prepare
  2. UK4–5Compete
  3. UK6–7Award
  4. UK8–12Manage
  5. UK13–17Markets and payment

Start with scope

The date and regime decide which vocabulary applies.

The Procurement Act sequence generally applies to relevant procurements commenced on or after 24 February 2025 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to reserved procurement in Scotland. Specific exceptions and devolved rules still matter: transferred Northern Ireland below-threshold procurement does not generally use this sequence, for example.

Devolved Scottish procurement generally continues under Scottish legislation, with records such as prior information notices, contract notices and contract award notices. A process commenced under earlier legislation stays under that earlier regime, including call-offs from a framework, dynamic purchasing system or qualification system established under it. Follow the official record rather than translating an old label into a UK code.

Notice family

Prepare and engage

These records can help you prepare or influence a requirement. They do not open a competition.

  1. 1

    UK1 — Pipeline notice

    A forward view of potential contracts and dynamic markets. Treat scope, value and timing as planning information that can change.

    Supplier action: Map the buyer and likely need; do not start a tender response.

  2. 2

    UK2 — Preliminary market engagement notice

    Explains engagement the buyer plans or has undertaken before a competition.

    Supplier action: Use only the response route and deadline in the notice; engagement is not a bid.

  3. 3

    UK3 — Planned procurement notice

    Signals an intended procurement. A qualifying notice published in the statutory window can support shorter tendering periods later.

    Supplier action: Prepare and watch for the linked UK4; do not assume the final scope.

Notice family

Compete or understand a direct award

These notices identify the route by which the buyer is seeking or selecting a supplier.

  1. 1

    UK4 — Tender notice

    Invites tenders or, in some competitive flexible procedures, requests to participate. It carries the route, scope, dates and participation information.

    Supplier action: Read the notice and associated documents at source before deciding whether and how to respond.

  2. 2

    UK5 — Transparency notice

    Explains that the buyer intends to make a direct award and the legal justification it is relying on.

    Supplier action: Use it as route and decision evidence, not as an open invitation to tender.

Notice family

Award and enter the contract

An award decision and an entered contract are separate facts, published at different points.

  1. 1

    UK6 — Contract award notice

    Published after the award decision and before the contract is entered into. It can begin a standstill period.

    Supplier action: Read who the buyer intends to contract with, then wait for later contract evidence before describing a signed contract.

  2. 2

    UK7 — Contract details notice

    Published after the contract is entered into, including for notifiable below-threshold contracts under the applicable rules.

    Supplier action: Use the dates, supplier, value and contract identifier as contract-stage evidence; keep estimates and actual payments separate.

Notice family

Manage, change or end

Later records can add contract evidence without rewriting what an earlier notice said.

  1. 1

    UK8 — Contract payment notice

    Reports qualifying payments over £30,000 under applicable public contracts through the quarterly publication process.

    Supplier action: Treat a published payment as payment evidence for its stated period, not the whole contract value.

  2. 2

    UK9 — Contract performance notice

    Reports required KPI assessments for applicable contracts and specified serious breach or poor-performance events.

    Supplier action: Read the metric, period and trigger; do not generalise one report into the supplier's complete performance.

  3. 3

    UK10 — Contract change notice

    Describes a qualifying modification before it is made, such as a change to value or term.

    Supplier action: Compare it with the UK7 and later records; preserve both the original and changed facts.

  4. 4

    UK11 — Contract termination notice

    Records that a contract has ended, whether through completion, expiry or early termination.

    Supplier action: Check the stated end reason and date rather than assuming failure or a new opportunity.

  5. 5

    UK12 — Procurement termination notice

    Records that a procurement, or identified contracts within it, has been stopped before a contract is entered into.

    Supplier action: Stop treating the earlier tender or transparency notice as live and watch for a genuinely new process.

UK13–UK16

Dynamic-market notices describe the market, not each contract.

A separate tender notice normally advertises a contract opportunity under the market.

NoticeWhat it establishes
UK13 — IntentionThe market is proposed and suppliers can see how to apply; it is not established yet.
UK14 — EstablishmentThe market is established, identifies admitted suppliers and can now be used by eligible buyers.
UK15 — ModificationThe published market record changes, including when suppliers are added or removed.
UK16 — CessationThe dynamic market has stopped operating and can no longer be used.

UK17 reports the buyer's payment compliance.

A payments compliance notice reports a contracting authority's statistics against 30-day payment terms for a six-month reporting period. It is organisation-level evidence, not one contract's invoice history. Keep it separate from UK8 contract payment information.

Source and presentation

Keep the official type beside Scout's useful stage.

Official source fact
The UK code, publication date, identifiers and wording shown on the source record.
Scout presentation
A broad stage and searchable fields that help suppliers find and organise published activity.
Supplier judgement
Whether the signal matters to your organisation and what to do next. That conclusion does not become a source fact.

Primary sources

Check the live notice and current official guidance.

Winston checked the law and guidance on 2 September 2026. This page is reviewed within 30 days and sooner after a notice, commencement or territorial-rule change.

Read one record in its real sequence.

Find a published record in Scout, open its official source, note the exact type and identifiers, then look for the linked earlier or later records before reaching a conclusion.

Search in ScoutBrowse resources

Use the tender-notice reading order for UK4, or the contract-award evidence guide for UK6 and the records that follow it.