Official UK procurement notice
Diocese of St Albans Provision of Integrated HR and Payroll System
Authority: Diocese of St Albans (Public body)·On behalf of: PHP Law LLP
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis tender opportunity has been issued by Diocese of St Albans Multi Academy Trust (the Trust), and Tenderers are invited to tender for the provision of an integrated Human Resources and Payroll system, with the capability to support a fully managed payroll service. The solution must enable compliant payroll and workforce administration in accordance with relevant legislation, HMRC requirements, Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) and Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) regulations, statutory employment obligations, and sector best practice. It must also provide the transparency, reporting capability, and internal controls necessary to support efficient Trust-wide operations.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Jul 2032, 23:59 BST.
- No preliminary market engagement: The Trust did not carry out preliminary market engagement (PME) prior to tender publication to prepare for this procurement. Tenderers shall be aware that under the Act, the Trust is not obligated to carry out PME. The justification is that the requirements are not complex, or niche and the Contracting Authority already has an understanding of what they want the service to deliver and the market is known.
CPV: Personnel and payroll services · Software package and information systems
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£650,000
- Economic & financial standing
To constitute a pass, Tenderers must demonstrate their economic and financial standing in accordance with the following: Due diligence checks will be undertaken on the preferred Tenderer’s accounts to determine a Tenderer’s financial standing. This will incorporate credit checks and a financial appraisal. To constitute a pass, tenderers must: a) Complete a credit check & financial appraisal. No outstanding CCJ’s or bankruptcy must be shown. A financial appraisal will be based upon the organisations gearing ratio, acceptable rates are around a target of 2:1 b) A minimum average annual turnover over the past two years of 1.5 times the Total Contract Value. Any answers which lead the Trust, acting reasonably, to conclude, considering the risk that the relevant answer suggests about the Tenderer’s ability to properly perform the specification, then the Tenderer may be rejected. Insurance requirements - can commit to obtain, prior to the award of the contract, the levels of insurance cover indicated below a. Employer’s (Compulsory) Liability Insurance* = £5m b. Public Liability Insurance = £5m c. Professional Indemnity Insurance = £1m d. Product Liability Insurance = £1m e. Cyber and Data Protection Insurance = £1m
- Technical & professional ability
Provide details of up to three contracts to meet conditions of participation relating to technical ability set out in the relevant notice or procurement documents, in any combination from the education sector. To constitute a pass, the contract examples provided shall be relevant to the requirement, with a sufficient level of detail that provides confidence in the Tenderer’s established past experience in similar and relevant projects/contracts. If you cannot provide at least one example of previous contracts, please provide an explanation for this and how you meet the conditions of participation relating to technical ability.
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 (3)
- Quality Questions: 25%
- Software - Technical Requirements: 35%
- Price: 40%
Published award criteria (3)
- Quality Questions: Implementation & Transition Delivery 4.0% Quality of People & Support Team 5.0% Quality of Managed Payroll Service Provision 5.0% Customer Retention & Client Success 4.0% Service Support Model & Responsiveness 2.0% Contract Management & Strategic Partnership 1.5% Service Performance Monitoring & Continuous Improvement 1.5% Innovation, Product Roadmap & Future Fit 1.0% Complaint Resolution & Escalation 1.0%
- Software - Technical Requirements: “Must” (Importance of Requirement Column C in Document 4a) 35% 20.0% “Should” (Importance of Requirement Column C in Document 4a) 10.0% “Could” (Importance of Requirement Column C in Document 4a) 5.0%
- Price
- Economic & financial standing
To constitute a pass, Tenderers must demonstrate their economic and financial standing in accordance with the following: Due diligence checks will be undertaken on the preferred Tenderer’s accounts to determine a Tenderer’s financial standing. This will incorporate credit checks and a financial appraisal. To constitute a pass, tenderers must: a) Complete a credit check & financial appraisal. No outstanding CCJ’s or bankruptcy must be shown. A financial appraisal will be based upon the organisations gearing ratio, acceptable rates are around a target of 2:1 b) A minimum average annual turnover over the past two years of 1.5 times the Total Contract Value. Any answers which lead the Trust, acting reasonably, to conclude, considering the risk that the relevant answer suggests about the Tenderer’s ability to properly perform the specification, then the Tenderer may be rejected. Insurance requirements - can commit to obtain, prior to the award of the contract, the levels of insurance cover indicated below a. Employer’s (Compulsory) Liability Insurance* = £5m b. Public Liability Insurance = £5m c. Professional Indemnity Insurance = £1m d. Product Liability Insurance = £1m e. Cyber and Data Protection Insurance = £1m
- Technical & professional ability
Provide details of up to three contracts to meet conditions of participation relating to technical ability set out in the relevant notice or procurement documents, in any combination from the education sector. To constitute a pass, the contract examples provided shall be relevant to the requirement, with a sufficient level of detail that provides confidence in the Tenderer’s established past experience in similar and relevant projects/contracts. If you cannot provide at least one example of previous contracts, please provide an explanation for this and how you meet the conditions of participation relating to technical ability.
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 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
- Closed
- 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 1 Jul 2032
- First published
- 17 Jul 2026, 13:45 BST
- Last source update
- 17 Jul 2026, 13:45 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 11 Nov 2026
- Authority reference
DSAMAT01.02- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-067820- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06cde1Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
- The Trust requires the following payment profile: a. Implementation Costs • 25% invoiced upon Contract Signature • 25% invoiced upon completion of the build • 25% following completion of testing • 25% following go live plus 1 month a. Table B All Inclusive Cost • Monthly invoice in arrears
- Risks
- Data Accuracy & Input Risk: Inconsistent or late inputs from academies can cause payroll errors. 2. Integration & Systems Compatibility Risks: Unclear or evolving integration requirements may disrupt operations. 3. Implementation & Transition Risks: Complex migrations, legacy data, and tight timelines can cause failures. 4. Compliance & Legislative Risk: High risk of non‑compliance with LGPS, TPS, HMRC, and sector requirements. 5. Governance & Approval‑Chain Risk: Multi‑level approvals may delay payroll runs. 6. Service Reliability & Business Continuity: Outages or poor resilience may cause missed pay dates. 7. Vendor Performance, Capacity & Resourcing Risks: Under‑resourcing can slow turnaround and increase errors. 8. Query Management & Support Risk: Insufficient helpdesk responsiveness impacts accuracy and staff satisfaction. 9. Contractual & Liability Risks: Liability caps may be insufficient for high‑impact payroll errors. 10. Scalability & Expansion Risks: Onboarding new schools can be delayed or inaccurate. 11. Cultural, Process & Change Management Risk: Low adoption and inconsistent processes increase error likelihood. 12. Trust Control & Visibility Risk: Reduced visibility or audit access undermines governance.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 4 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 4 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
17 Jul 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published97 days ago17 Jul 2026, 13:45 BST
- Clarification questions by48 days ago4 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline48 days ago4 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 21 days11 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 161 days1 Apr 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published17 Jul 2026, 13:45 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- PHP Law LLPProcess contact pointProcuring entityProcurement Consultant
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender