Prisoner Payphone Service · UK public procurement notice

The Extension facilitates the procurement of, and smooth transition to, a next generation prison telephone service solution, as well as providing for necessary service improvements. Provisions are included in the Extension around intellectual property, exit planning and asset transfer. During the term of the Extension, BT will complete the installation of an internet protocol-based service in all HMPPS prisons. This will replace the current ISDN-based service, which will become unavailable in 2025. BT will also make investments to improve the service provided to MoJ and prisoners, to better align the services with current technologies available to members of the public.

The Extension also introduces some amendments to ensure greater consistency with current Government commercial and procurement policies (e.g., freedom of information and transparency, compliance with tax obligations and modernised security requirements).

The Extension is permitted by virtue of the concession contract award procedure or the negotiated procedure (as applicable) without the publication of a concession or contract notice, as applicable, because the services can only be provided by BT. This is because competition is absent for technical reasons and/or the protection of exclusive rights, no reasonable alternative or substitute exists, and MoJ has not artificially narrowed the scope of the procedure, as more fully described in section IV.1.1 below.

Alternatively, MoJ considers that neither the Concession Contracts Regulations 2016 nor the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 apply to the Contract, the Extension is an amendment to the Contract, and MoJ has published this notice voluntarily in the interests of maximum transparency.

Alternatively, the Extension is a modification of the Contract and the modifications provided for by the Extension are not substantial and therefore permitted because:

(1) the modified Contract will be substantially of the same character as the Contract when it was originally let. BT will continue to provide telephone services to prisoners on a concession basis and will not provide additional services unrelated to telephony. BT will continue to provide telephone services to prisoners in each case subject to meeting MoJ's security requirements to prevent misuse;

(2) the modified Contract will require BT to make additional investment, change the contract management mechanisms, clarify the position concerning intellectual property rights, and make better provision for the transition of service from BT to any replacement supplier(s). The conditions would not - had they been part of the original contract award procedure - have attracted additional participants to the award procedure, seen the selection of different applicants to participate in the procurement, or seen the award of the Contract to a different organisation;

(3) the terms of the Extension require BT to make investment in the system used to provide the services within prisons;

(4) the extension does not extend the scope of the Contract, in that it continues to relate only to prisons operated by HMPPS. The duration of the proposed extension is up to 31 May 2026 (with an additional optional 12 month exit period) . This is not a considerable extension of scope compared to the duration of the Contract provided for in the original Contract, and/or compared to the existing duration of the Contract.

The value of the Extension in section V.2.4 is an estimate of the total amount that prisoners will pay to BT under the Extension and does not represent any sums that MoJ will pay to BT. The amount that BT will receive under the Extension depends on prisoner use of the system, which has significant uncertainties. The value in section IV.2.4 represents an estimate based on certain usage scenarios.