Procurement in a Nutshell: First Contract Performance Notice published
27th February, 2026
The first contract performance notice under the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) has been published. This is the first of the UK9 contract performance notices and these notices will publicly rate a supplier's performance against KPIs on public contracts.
Contract Performance Notice
The contract (4405/AMRC/CK/25 AMRC Uniform Contract) comprises a uniform contract for the University of Sheffield, running from 1 August 2025 to 11 December 2025 (4 months 11 days), and valued at £432,000 (inclusive of VAT). Overall, the notice rated the contract performance as ‘good’ (the performance is meeting or exceeding the key performance indicators) which is the highest possible category.
Criteria for publishing KPIs
Section 52 PA 2023 outlines a contracting authority must publish at least three Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in respect of the contract when:
- Procured under the PA 2023;
- With an estimated value of at least £5 million; and
- Where none of the exemptions apply:
Exemptions
- The contracting authority considers that the supplier’s performance under the contract could not appropriately be assessed by reference to key performance indicators;
- The award of a framework;
- A concession contract;
- A light touch contract; or
- A utilities contract awarded by a private utility.
These KPIs will be set out in the Contract Details Notice and then used to assess contract performance under section 71 PA 2023.
Section 71 PA 2023
Section 71 PA 2023 states an assessment of contract performance notice must be published at least once every 12 months during a contract and on termination. The notice is used to assess the performance of a supplier against the relevant KPIs (set out in accordance with section 52) and must be rated either good, approaching target, requires improvement, inadequate, or ‘other’.
Conclusion
What is interesting about this contract performance notice is that it does not meet the KPI publication requirements. In other words, the contract value is too low (below £5 million) for there to have been an obligation to issue KPIs, yet they were was released regardless. As more contract performance notices appear under the PA 2023, it will be worth observing whether a pattern emerges in which notices are still issued with KPIs even when they fall outside of the necessary criteria.
For further information please contact Melanie Pears or Tim Care in our Public Sector team.
Procurement and public law update
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Please note that this briefing is designed to be informative, not advisory and represents our understanding of English law and practice as at the date indicated. We would always recommend that you should seek specific guidance on any particular legal issue.
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