The 2026 commencement changed the evidence

Section 71 contract performance requirements commenced on 1 January 2026 for covered contracts awarded under the Procurement Act. Authorities must assess and publish performance against relevant KPIs at least once in each 12-month period and when the contract ends.

The notice also records specified breach and poor-performance events. This is a new public layer between contract entry and termination. It gives suppliers evidence about delivery, but only when the statutory trigger and publication duty apply.

Evidence for this section: Guidance: Contract Performance Notices · New legislative requirements under the Procurement Act 2023

Periodic KPI reporting has a defined scope

The KPI publication duty generally concerns public contracts above £5 million where section 52 requires KPIs. The current guidance says the regime expands earlier central-government policy to the majority of contracts above that value. Exemptions and cases where performance cannot appropriately be assessed by KPI still matter.

Each public rating is one of five terms: good, approaching target, requires improvement, inadequate or other. Buyers may use a more detailed internal scale, but the notice maps the public assessment to these categories.

Evidence for this section: Guidance: Contract Performance Notices · Guidance: Key Performance Indicators

Breach and poor performance are different triggers

A notice is required for a breach that results in partial termination, damages or a settlement agreement. It is also required where the authority considers performance unsatisfactory, gives the supplier a proper opportunity to improve, and the supplier fails to do so. Full termination is reported through a contract termination notice.

The current short guide states that breach or failed-improvement notices are due within 30 days of the event. This part of section 71 applies more widely than annual KPI reporting, including to most public contracts, frameworks and concessions.

Evidence for this section: Guidance: Contract Performance Notices · Procurement Act e-learning: contract governance

Read the assessment before judging the supplier

Resolve the exact contract, lot, supplier and assessment period. Read the KPI definition, target and buyer wording. Then look for later notices showing improvement, continued failure, modification or termination. A single rating can be important without representing the supplier's whole business.

Do not infer fraud, financial distress or general incompetence from operational performance. Quote sparingly and link the original notice. If you add analysis, make the inference and its limits visible.

Evidence for this section: Guidance: Contract Performance Notices

Use the record to understand the buyer

A KPI set reveals what the buyer chose to make measurable. Repeated measures across contracts can show persistent priorities such as mobilisation, availability, response time, data quality or social-value delivery.

Challengers should translate those priorities into evidence, not competitor attack lines. An incumbent can compare its own records with the buyer's published assessment. Partners can use serious, repeated events as a due-diligence trigger, then investigate the full context.

Evidence for this section: NAO: Managing the commercial lifecycle · Art of Procurement: Defining and Delivering on Supplier Development

Add payment evidence from April 2026

Section 70 payment information commenced from 1 April 2026 for relevant Procurement Act contracts outside the stated Welsh exception. Authorities publish information about individual payments above £30,000. Payment compliance reporting also provides aggregate evidence such as average invoice payment time.

Payment data does not prove contract health by itself. It can, however, help distinguish a live spending relationship from a dormant award and support analysis of mobilisation or run rate when the data is complete enough.

Evidence for this section: New legislative requirements under the Procurement Act 2023 · Procurement Act manage-phase guidance · DWP procurement publication approach

Build a renewal view from delivery, not expiry alone

Start with contract dates and options. Add KPI history, breach notices, payment activity, modifications and buyer strategy. Then write several scenarios: extend, compete again, change route, reduce scope or end the service. Assign evidence for and against each.

A poor rating does not guarantee displacement. The buyer may remediate, modify or extend. Consistently good ratings do not guarantee renewal either. Policy, budget and route can still change. Performance improves the forecast because it adds observed delivery evidence, not because it settles the outcome.

Evidence for this section: NAO: Managing the commercial lifecycle

The management literature points in the same direction

The NAO's 2025 lifecycle guide draws on more than 300 commercial arrangements and treats timely management information, accountability and transition as parts of one discipline. It follows value from competition through delivery.

An Art of Procurement discussion on supplier development makes a related point. Performance management should create a specific improvement path instead of a list of complaints. Suppliers reading public performance records should examine the measure, remedy and time allowed around any negative label.

Evidence for this section: NAO: Managing the commercial lifecycle · Art of Procurement: Defining and Delivering on Supplier Development

Frequently asked questions

Do all public contracts have performance notices?

No. Coverage depends on the contract, the Procurement Act provisions and whether a relevant KPI or performance event triggers publication.

Does no notice mean good performance?

No. Absence is not evidence of a positive or negative outcome.

Can a challenger cite a competitor's notice?

Public facts can be used with exact contract context and a source link. Avoid broad claims about the supplier or unsupported allegations.

Primary sources, reading and listening

We use official material for legal rules and live dates. Reports, books and podcasts add context. Follow the live notice and current guidance before making a commercial decision.

Continue the research

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