Official UK procurement notice
DFE - FE Colleges -The Provision of Internal Audit Services for the FE Colleges in NI
Authority: South Eastern Regional College (SERC) (Central government)·On behalf of: CPD
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSouth Eastern Regional College (SERC) on behalf of the six Regional Colleges in Northern Ireland ("NI Colleges") wishes to appoint a single Supplier for the provision of Internal Audit Services. In accordance with the Partnership Agreements between the Colleges and the Department of Finance's (DoF) Audit and Risk Assurance Committee Handbook (NI), all Further Education Colleges in Northern Ireland are required to have an internal audit service. The prime responsibility of the internal audit service is to provide the Governing Bodies, Accounting Officers and College management with assurance on the adequacy and effectiveness of the internal control system of each College.
Each College is required to ensure that it has sound systems of financial and other management controls. The principal objective of the internal audit service should be to review, appraise and report on the adequacy, reliability and effectiveness of the systems and controls established by management to ensure
- the financial business of the College must be conducted in accordance with the arrangements and conditions set out in the Financial Memorandum;
- every effort must be made to ensure that the College operates within its available funding;
- due attention must be paid to the efficient and effective management of all the College's resources and expenditure, capital assets, equipment and staff so that public funds are not put at risk and that value for money and other financial considerations are taken into account in reaching decisions and in their execution;
- the College must comply with such other relevant guidance/instructions on financial control as are issued by the Department from time to time; and
- the College should formulate and implement a policy to ensure that its accounting and other procedures contain all reasonable safeguards against fraud and theft. Suppliers should refer to the Specification Schedule within eTendersNI for full detail on the deliverables of this contract.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 27 May 2030, 23:59 BST.
CPV: Accounting and auditing services · Accounting, auditing and fiscal services · Auditing services · Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security · Internal audit services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£525,000
- Economic & financial standing
As per the tender documents.
- Technical & professional ability
As per the tender documents.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Qualitative Criteria: 70%
- Quantitative Criteria: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
- Qualitative Criteria: AC1 - Experience of Audit Team AC2 - Methodology – Audit Delivery AC3 - Methodology – Audit Strategy Plan AC4 - Contract Management/Continuous Improvement AC5 - Social Value The Contracting Authority may during the process refine an award criterion in line with section 24 of the PA 2023. Where this is the case revised tender documentation will be provided to all suppliers clearly indicating any refinements made.
- Quantitative Criteria: AC6 - Total Contract Price
- Economic & financial standing
As per the tender documents.
- Technical & professional ability
As per the tender documents.
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 27 May 2030
- First published
- 3 Jul 2025, 14:31 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Sept 2025, 12:47 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 1 Sept 2025
- Authority reference
ID 5934601- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-037146- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-055861Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
Contract Value
The estimated value figure indicated in the Scope Section represents an overall estimated contract value. This value reflects the potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation or increases to charges due to increases in the Real Living Wage. Neither CPD nor the contracting Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender. Suppliers remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Supplier in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise (and a Supplier shall have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the Contracting Authority.
- Risks
Exclusions
If at any time during the procurement, or post award, it comes to the attention of the Contracting Authority (CA) or CPD, by whatever means, that a Supplier has become ‘excluded’ or ‘excludable’ as per Sec 57 of the PA 2023, the CA, after compliance with its obligations under the PA 23, reserves the right to exclude said Supplier from the procurement procedure or terminate any contract they have been awarded.
The Contracting Authority expressly reserves the rights:
(I) not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice;
(II) to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering Competition;
(III) to award (a) contract(s) in respect of any part(s) of the services covered by this notice; and
(IV) to award contract(s) in stages.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 11 Aug 2025, 15:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 1 Aug 2025, 15:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tenders must be submitted electronically via the relevant Call for Tender (CfT) opportunity on eTendersNI, website details immediately below.
Paper submissions will not be accepted or considered and will be rejected by the Contracting Authority / Buyer.
The tender documents are available with unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: URL etendersni.gov.uk/epps ↗
Timeline
3 Jul 2025 → 24 Sept 2025 · 8 dates- Tender notice published3 Jul 2025, 14:31 BST
- Clarification questions by1 Aug 2025, 15:00 BST
- Submission deadline11 Aug 2025, 15:00 BST
- Contract starts1 Sept 2025, 00:00 BST
- Award decision expected by1 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent3 Sept 2025, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends12 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
- Latest notice published395 days ago24 Sept 2025, 12:47 BST
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 3 Jul 2025- Tender notice published3 Jul 2025, 14:31 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published3 Sept 2025, 16:49 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete3 Sept 2025, 16:49 BST
- Contract signature expected16 Sept 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published24 Sept 2025, 12:47 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henderson Loggie17 Sept 2025 – 16 Sept 2028 · up to 16 Sept 2030Extensions: Following the initial contract period there is the option to extend for a further two periods of up to twelve months each. | £750,000 | 3 Aug 2025 | Awarded |
Contracts
DFE - FE Colleges -The Provision of Internal Audit Services for the FE Colleges in NI · Henderson Loggie
- Signed
- 15 Sept 2025
- Value
- £680,000
- Period
- 16 Sept 2025 – 15 Sept 2028 · up to 15 Sept 2030 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- Following the initial period of 3 years there will be the option to extend for an additional two periods of 12 months each.
No agreed KPIs: The value of this contract is below the relevant threshold of £5 million including VAT and as such KPIs are not mandated. The tender documents do however include the process for contract management, including the suppliers performance.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7final-stage tenders | 4 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CPDBeneficiary authority
- CPD - Supplies & Services DivisionProcess contact pointProcuring entityConstruction and Procurement Delivery - Supplies and Services Division, is a Centre of Procurement Expertise and provides a central procurement function for central government in Northern Ireland.
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- HENDERSON LOGGIE LLPAwarded supplier
- Henderson Loggie LLPAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender