Contract Award -Legal Services Scotland for the Child Maintenance Service

Following a Call Off Competition from the Crown Commercial Service's Debt Resolution Service Framework RM6226 Lot 7 (Scottish Litigation) , a contract has been awarded as follows:

Primary Supplier: Harper Macleod LLP Secondary ( Conflict of Interest) Supplier: Not awarded

A contract has been awarded to Harper Macleod for an initial fixed period of 1 year. It may be extended for further period(s) as follows: 1 year, plus 1 year plus a further period of up to 5 months up to the maximum end date allowed under the DRS framework of 13/12/28.

The value of the initial one year fixed term is estimated at £1,842, 806.00 excluding VAT (£2,211,367.00 including VAT). If fully extended the estimated value of the contract is £6,637,532.00 excluding VAT (£7,965,027.00 including VAT).

Please note that the estimated value of the contract includes all legal fees and disbursements arising as a result of contract activity for both the initial one year fixed term of the contract and the estimated full value if fully extended. These values are based on the current scope of the contract. However, as outlined in the Call Off Competition details, the scope of the contract may reduce during the life of the contract and this may result in a reduction in the value of the contract during its term.

Under new procurement rules introduced in 2025 , the Buyer is not required to publish a redacted copy of the contract. Therefore no contract has been attached to this award notice.

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The Department for Work and Pensions, acting on behalf of the Child Maintenance Service, is seeking a Primary and Secondary (Conflict of Interest) Supplier for the delivery of Litigation and Debt Recovery activity plus all associated enforcement activity required in Scotland linked to recovery of arrears owed by Paying Parents to Receiving Parents.

The service will by its nature require management of an end to end supply chain including instruction of sheriff officers.

The current contract which commenced in August 2021 is due to expire in August 2025 when it reaches its final extension date. This is a re-procurement of the service.

This is a large scale service requirement involving approximately 1000 new Liability Order referrals per year and approximately 300 Sanctions case referrals per year. The current average caseload is around 1,500 cases, some of which take 3-5 years to conclude from Liability Order stage through to conclusion of the Sanctions Stage. Delivery of the service requires close and frequent collaboration with the Child Maintenance Service who will provide instructions on cases in consultation with the Supplier(s).