The verdict in three sentences
For a London council with 1,200 pages and dozens of service areas, a budget of £80,000 to £150,000 is realistic in 2026, as long as the specification prices the scope before bidders do it for you. WCAG 2.2 AA compliance under the Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations must be verified by an independent audit at launch, otherwise it stays a sales promise. A 60 % quality, 40 % price evaluation, backed by structured method statements, filters out cheap bids that underestimate content migration.
What the specification must lock down
A council digital lead rarely starts from scratch. They inherit an ageing CMS, 1,200 pages of which a third are out of date, PDF forms and around forty content editors spread across departments. The specification has to turn that legacy into measurable requirements. A line like « modern, accessible website » produces incomparable bids and a stream of change requests.
| Specification block | Measurable requirement | Budget share (2026 order of magnitude) |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and information architecture | Audit of 1,200 pages, target 700 after pruning | £8,000 to £14,000 |
| Design system | 12 page templates aligned with GOV.UK patterns | £12,000 to £22,000 |
| CMS and build | Open source CMS, editor roles, approval workflow | £28,000 to £50,000 |
| Online services | 15 digital forms, GOV.UK Pay and CRM integration | £12,000 to £22,000 |
| Accessibility WCAG 2.2 AA | Independent audit of 20 pages, published statement | £6,000 to £12,000 |
| Content migration | 700 pages migrated, 301 redirects for every URL | £9,000 to £18,000 |
| Training and testing | 3 editor sessions, 4 weeks of user acceptance testing | £5,000 to £12,000 |
The total lands between £80,000 and £150,000. Require a priced schedule that mirrors these lines exactly: you can compare bidders item by item and spot the one who allocates £2,000 to migration, a sign they have not understood it.
Procurement route, timeline and evaluation
Under the Procurement Act 2023, in force since February 2025, a contract of this size sits below the threshold for sub-central services (around £215,000 including VAT), but above £30,000 you still publish a below-threshold notice on the Find a Tender service. Many councils also use the G-Cloud framework, which shortens the process.
| Stage | Recommended duration | Watch point |
|---|---|---|
| Drafting specification and pricing schedule | 4 to 6 weeks | Validate the target sitemap with service areas |
| Tender open | 35 days | Hold a supplier Q&A session |
| Evaluation | 2 to 3 weeks | Published scoring guide with weighted sub-criteria |
| Clarification and presentations | 1 to 2 weeks | Top 3 bidders only |
| Award and kick-off | 1 week | Discovery workshop within 10 days |
| Delivery | 6 months | Payment milestones tied to deliverables, not time |
For quality (60 %), break down the sub-criteria: migration method (15 points), accessibility approach with evidence from public references (15 points), architecture and hosting (10 points), team and plan (10 points), exit and support (10 points). Price (40 %) is scored proportionally against the lowest compliant bid, after checking for abnormally low tenders.
On hosting, require UK or EU data residency, Cyber Essentials Plus certification and an exit clause: full export of content and accounts in open formats, free of charge, within 30 days.
Clauses that prevent change requests
Three topics drive most disputes in council rebuilds. First, migration: state who moves what and how many pages the supplier migrates. Second, accessibility: set a target (no critical WCAG failures at launch, 100 % of blocking issues fixed) and release the final payment after the independent audit. Third, support: price a 3-year support and maintenance contract separately, renewable annually, so its cost does not surprise you after launch.
Remember the legal duty: the council must publish an accessibility statement, and the Central Digital and Data Office monitors public sector sites and can escalate non-compliance to the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
Mini case study
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Priya, head of digital at a London borough, receives 6 bids. The cheapest (£71,000) plans 3 days of migration for 700 pages, about 230 pages a day, which is unrealistic. A £112,000 bid plans 18 days of migration, an independent WCAG audit and UK hosting with Cyber Essentials Plus.
Scoring: the £71,000 bid gets 40 price points but only 31 quality points out of 60, total 71. The £112,000 bid gets 40 × 71,000 / 112,000 = 25.4 price points and 54 quality points, total 79.4. Priya awards the second. The avoided cost: an estimated £20,000 migration change request and 3 months of delay on online services.
FAQ
Should the specification name a specific CMS?
Better to set requirements (open source, roles, workflow, exit) than a brand. Naming a product narrows competition and can expose the procurement to challenge. Keep 10 quality points for the supplier's justification of their choice.
How long between drafting and launch?
Allow 10 to 12 months: 6 weeks of drafting, 35 days of tender, about a month of evaluation, then 6 months of delivery. A launch before a local election cycle means starting very early.
How do we check the accessibility actually delivered?
Commission a third-party audit on 20 representative pages and tie 10 to 15 % of the payment to its result. The supplier fixes blocking issues before acceptance.
Is G-Cloud better than an open tender?
G-Cloud can cut the procurement timeline to 6 to 8 weeks, but you are limited to listed suppliers and their published rates. An open tender takes longer and usually attracts more competitive pricing on a 6-month build.
What belongs in support and maintenance?
Security updates, fixes, backups, monitoring and 5 to 10 days of improvements per year. Require measured response times, for example 4 working hours for a blocking defect.
Let's scope your project. We help you structure the specification, pricing schedule and scoring guide, or we bid on your tender with a detailed 6-month plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.
Mohamed Bah
Fondateur, Kolonell
Passionate about digital and entrepreneurship in Africa, Mohamed has been helping Sénégalese businesses with their digital transformation since 2020. Founder of Kolonell, he believes every SME deserves a professional and accessible online présence.
