Official UK procurement notice
ID 6564562 DoJ - Northern Ireland Prison Service - Prisoner Telephone System
Authority: Northern Ireland Prison Service (Central government)·On behalf of: CPD
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) is an executive agency of the Department of
Justice, Northern Ireland. The current prisoner population is 1,884 (as of 26/03/26) with
Hydebank Wood College and Women’s Prison holding 55 males and 111 female
prisoners, 1,246 prisoners at HMP Maghaberry Prison and 472 at HMP Magilligan Prison.
This Requirement is to cover the supply of telephone equipment and/or services capable
of providing a telephone system for prisoners at Maghaberry and Magilligan Prisons and
Hydebank Wood Secure College and Woman’s Prison.
The contract will commence upon the Award Date or a date as stimulated within the Letter
of Award and it is anticipated that the solution Go Live Date will be 01 April 2027. The
contract will have an initial operational core term of five years from the Go Live Date. In
addition the contract will also include two optional 24-month extension periods, if required by the NIPS.
- How the procedure runs: This competition is being conducted in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) and the Procurement Regulations 2024 (PR 2024) using a Competitive Flexible Procedure. Once the tender assessment process as set out in the Instructions to Tenderers has been completed, the marks for the Award Criteria and for Price will be combined to identify a provisional Most Advantageous Tender (pMAT). A verification exercise will take place, where the pMAT will provide a working demonstration of their proposed solution to verify the technical requirements. In the event that the Supplier’s proposed system is determined not to comply with any Requirement of the specification following the verification exercise, the Supplier will be considered eliminated from the tender exercise and the next highest scoring tenderer will be asked to undertake verification. Full details are provided within the Instructions to Tenderers document.
- No preliminary market engagement: The following PME's were carried out regarding this Tender, prior to PA23 therefore no PME Notices following the introduction of PA23 were issued; ID 5830822 DoJ NIPS Prisoner Telephone System PME Published on etendersni 06/03/2025
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Postal and telecommunications services · Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment · Switchboards · Telecommunications equipment and supplies · Telecommunications services · Telephone and data transmission services · Telephone equipment
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£6,480,000
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 (9)
- AC1 Proposed Solution: 31.2%
- AC2 Implementation Plan: 17.6%
- AC3 Contract Management, Helpdesk and Reporting: 8.8%
- AC4 Business Continuity: 4%
- AC5 Key Personnel Experience of Security and Legislation: 4%
- AC6 Data Protection: 4%
- AC 8 Total Cost: 16%
- AC9 Call Rate: 4%
- AC7 Social Value: 10.4%
Published award criteria (9)
- AC1 Proposed Solution: As per Tender Documentation
- AC2 Implementation Plan: As per Tender Documentation
- AC3 Contract Management, Helpdesk and Reporting: As per Tender Documentation
- AC4 Business Continuity: As per Tender Documentation
- AC5 Key Personnel Experience of Security and Legislation: As per Tender Documentation
- AC6 Data Protection: As per Tender Documentation
- AC7 Social Value: As per Tender Documentation
- AC 8 Total Cost: As per Tender Documentation
- AC9 Call Rate: The 4% weighting is broken down into two sub-criteria as follows; Difference between UK and RoI Landline & Fixed Rates in comparison with International Rates - 2% Difference between UK and RoI Mobile in comparison with International Rates - 2% Further detail is provided within the Tender Documentation
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 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
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Concession
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 4 Jun 2026, 18:28 BST
- Last source update
- 15 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 15 Sept 2026
- Authority reference
ID 6564562- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-053081- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ae24Find a Tender
- How it runs
This competition is being conducted in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 (PA
2023) and the Procurement Regulations 2024 (PR 2024) using a Competitive Flexible
Procedure.
Once the tender assessment process as set out in the Instructions to Tenderers has been
completed, the marks for the Award Criteria and for Price will be combined to identify a
provisional Most Advantageous Tender (pMAT).
A verification exercise will take place, where the pMAT will provide a working demonstration of their proposed solution to verify the technical requirements. In the event that the Supplier’s proposed system is determined not to comply with any Requirement of the specification following the verification exercise, the Supplier will be considered eliminated from the tender exercise and the next highest scoring tenderer will be asked to undertake verification.
Full details are provided within the Instructions to Tenderers document.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 1 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 22 Jun 2026, 23:59 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
4 Jun 2026 → 26 Oct 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published140 days ago4 Jun 2026, 18:28 BST
- Clarification questions by121 days ago22 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline112 days ago1 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Award decision expected by36 days ago15 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts36 days ago16 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent7 days ago15 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published7 days ago15 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Standstill endsin 5 days26 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMT
Notice history
4 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 4 Jun 2026- Tender notice published4 Jun 2026, 18:28 BSTUK4
- Contract award notice published15 Oct 2026, 12:16 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete15 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST
- Contract signature expected26 Oct 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Withheld Section94 supplier27 Oct 2026 – 31 Mar 2032 · up to 31 Mar 2036Extensions: There are two optional extension periods of up to two years on each ocassion. · Options: The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid. The contract may continue to be extended on an annual basis following the uptake of all optional extension periods where the solution is still fit for purpose meets the organisation’s needs and business funding is available and approved. Should updated technology be available to support the contract more efficiently there may be an option to include this. | £6,480,000 | 15 Oct 2026standstill to 26 Oct 2026 | Standstill |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2final-stage tenders | 2 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- did not win‘Withheld Section94 supplier’ · Northern Ireland
- did not winWithheld Section94 supplier - 2nd supplier · Northern Ireland
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CPDBeneficiary authority
- CPD - Supplies and 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 · 1 awarded- Withheld Section94 supplier - 2nd supplierBidder / tenderer
- ‘Withheld Section94 supplier’Awarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender