Official UK procurement notice
DOJ - Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) - Computerised Personnel and Salary (COMPASS) System Support
Authority: Northern Ireland Prison Service (Central government)·On behalf of: CPD
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNIPS wishes to appoint a Supplier for the provision of support and maintenance of its’ COMPASS system, via support days on a call off basis. The DOJ ISD provides ‘first-line’ support to the Users of the system. This contract is for the provision of support and maintenance on via call off support days as and when required (estimated 30 days per year). This contract is for an initial period of 2 years with 2 optional extensions of 1 year each.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 30 Jun 2029, 23:59 BST.
CPV: Computer-related services · Helpdesk and support services · IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · System and support services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£123,000
- Economic & financial standing
As per Tender documentation.
- Technical & professional ability
As per Tender documentation.
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).
- AC1 - Proposed Methodology: Weighting = 15 percent as per tender documentation
- AC2 - Contract Management and Contingency: Weighting = 15 percent as per tender documentation
- AC3 - Total Contract Price: Weighting = 70 percent as per tender documentation
- Economic & financial standing
As per Tender documentation.
- Technical & professional ability
As per Tender documentation.
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 30 Jun 2029
- First published
- 17 Feb 2026, 15:10 GMT
- Last source update
- 1 Apr 2026, 10:11 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 23 Mar 2026
- Authority reference
ID 6257085- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-014407- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065644Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
For further details on invoicing procedures please see : www.finance-ni.gov.uk/ar ↗ ticles/account-ni-good-invoicing-practice
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
The Contracting Authority has identified the following risks as risks that satisfy the criteria
of Schedule 8 sub-paragraph (6)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023 i.e. that the risk/s could
jeopardise the satisfactory performance of the contract but, because of its/their nature,
cannot be addressed in the contract as awarded:
- All personnel providing the required call off support days including staff providing payroll, HR, and SAP BASIS requirements must hold valid SC clearance, any changes in staffing or clearance status could impact service delivery following contract award.
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.
and in no circumstances will the Authority be liable for any costs incurred by candidates.
This project will be used to progress the Government’s wider social, economic and environmental objectives.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 16 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 9 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- 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
17 Feb 2026 → 1 Apr 2026 · 7 dates- Tender notice published251 days ago17 Feb 2026, 15:10 GMT
- Clarification questions by231 days ago9 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Submission deadline224 days ago16 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Assessment summaries sent221 days ago19 Mar 2026
- Award decision expected by216 days ago23 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts208 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published208 days ago1 Apr 2026, 10:11 BST
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Feb 2026- Tender notice published17 Feb 2026, 15:10 GMTUK4
- Contract award notice published19 Mar 2026, 10:44 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete19 Mar 2026, 10:44 GMT
- Contract signature expected31 Mar 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published1 Apr 2026, 10:11 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Epi-Use Limited1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 31 Mar 2030Extensions: This contract has an initial period of 2 years with an option to extend the contract for a further two periods of one year each. · Options: This contract is for the provision of Support Days as and when required by NIPS on a Call- Off basis, the contract has an initial period of two years with two further options to extend by a further 1 year each to enable the client to extend their requirement to call off support days. | £119,139 | 19 Mar 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
DOJ - Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) - Computerised Personnel and Salary (COMPASS) System Support · Epi-Use Limited
- Signed
- 31 Mar 2026
- Value
- £119,139
- Period
- 1 Apr 2026 – 31 Mar 2028 · up to 31 Mar 2030 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- This contract has an initial period of 2 years with an option to extend the contract for a further two periods of one year each.
- Options
- This contract is for the provision of Support Days as and when required by NIPS on a Call- Off basis, the contract has an initial period of two years with two further options to extend by a further 1 year each to enable the client to extend their requirement to call off support days.
No agreed KPIs: The value of this contract is below the relevant threshold of £5 million including VAT and as such the reporting and publication of KPIs is not mandated.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1final-stage tenders | 1 | 1 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CPDBeneficiary authority
- CPD - Supplies & Services DivisionProcess contact pointProcuring entitySummary of their role in this procurement: Construction 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
1 commercial party on the notice- Withheld for Security Reasons - Section 94 SupplierAwarded 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