NLA Media Access Licence for Newspaper Content

DWP requires ongoing, legally compliant access to UK and international news content to support operational activity, media monitoring, and strategic communications. The Department for Work and Pensions (“the Authority”) intends to award this contract directly to NLA Media Access Limited (“NLA”) in accordance with Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 (“PA23”).

This is justified on the basis that the services can be supplied only by a particular supplier due to the existence of exclusive rights (paragraph 5 of Schedule 5 PA23). NLA is the collective licensing body representing a wide range of UK newspaper and magazine publishers and is the only organisation currently authorised to grant licences permitting the copying, sharing and internal distribution of such content across multiple publishers.

There is no reasonable alternative or substitute capable of providing an equivalent service, and the absence of competition is not the result of any artificial narrowing of the Authority’s requirements. This notice is being published after the commencement of the contract in order to ensure transparency in respect of the Authority’s decision to make this direct award.

Due to the urgent requirement to ensure continuity of lawful access to licensed content, the contract was awarded prior to publication of this notice. The Authority acknowledges that the notice was not issued in advance of the contract award and is now publishing this information to provide visibility of the justification and the Authority’s obligations under the Procurement Act 2023.