Provision of a Human Resources and Payroll Solution and Associated Services to the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission

Purpose of this Notice

This Planned Procurement Notice relates to requirements that were the subject of a preliminary market engagement exercise undertaken by the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission (Assembly Commission) under Find a Tender Service reference 2026/S 000-080852. The engagement considered replacement solutions for HR, payroll and finance functions. Following engagement, the Assembly Commission intends to conduct separate procurements for HR & payroll and for finance solutions.

This notice provides advance information to help potential suppliers assess the opportunity, identify any delivery partners and plan bid and demonstration resources. The Assembly Commission intends to rely on this notice as a qualifying planned procurement notice under section 15(3) of the Procurement Act 2023 to enable a reduced tendering period were permitted by section 54. This notice is not a call for competition; the tender notice and associated procurement documents will explain how to participate.

Scope of Requirement

The Assembly Commission intends to undertake two separate procurements for the provision, implementation and ongoing support of a modern human resources and payroll solution and a finance solution.

The procurement forms part of the Assembly Commission's wider objective to modernise corporate systems and processes, improve user experience, strengthen organisational reporting and support data-driven decision making.

Following completion of preliminary market engagement, the Assembly Commission intends to adopt a best-of-breed approach, procuring specialist solutions capable of operating within an integrated corporate services environment. The requirement is therefore not anticipated to comprise a single Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution.

Solutions should support an integrated user experience, effective data sharing, enhanced reporting and analytics, workflow automation, robust governance and security controls, and future scalability.

The Assembly Commission is seeking solutions that support the delivery of:

•Human resources, including workforce administration, employee and manager self-service, recruitment, onboarding, learning, performance management and workforce reporting.

•Payroll, including payroll administration, statutory compliance, reporting and integration with workforce data.

•Finance, including financial accounting, budgeting, accounts payable and receivable, procurement-to-pay processes and financial reporting.

This planned procurement notice relates to the HR and payroll an solution requirement only. A separate planned procurement notice is expected to be issued for the finance solution requirement. The Assembly Commission is not currently seeking to procure a single combined HR, payroll and finance ERP solution through this notice.

The two separate contracts are expected to include software provision, implementation and configuration services, data migration, integration, training and ongoing support and maintenance.

Outline Requirement – HR & Payroll Solution

The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission intends to procure a modern HR, payroll and pensions solution and associated implementation and support services. This will be a separate procurement from the planned finance system procurement. The system should have the technical capability to integrate with other best of breed applications such as finance and procurement and in doing so support integrated reporting. The system must ensure data is exchanged securely.

The anticipated HR solution scope includes the management of core personnel records and the end-to-end employee lifecycle. Solutions must support delivery of services such as - vacancy management, recruitment and onboarding, absence and leave management, learning and development, employee-relations case management, and employee and manager self-service. This is not an exhaustive list.

The system should reduce duplicated data entry and manual processing and provide authorised users with timely, secure access to accurate information.

Payroll functionality is expected to support multiple, independently controlled payrolls and pay groups, including payroll bureau arrangements for different employing bodies. It will need to accommodate individuals holding multiple or concurrent employment contracts, potentially with different employers, pay arrangements, pension schemes and leave entitlements. The anticipated scope includes configurable pay grades, allowances and deductions, statutory and occupational pay calculations, retrospective adjustments, payment outputs, HMRC submissions, reconciliations and payroll reporting.

The requirement includes support for pension-related administration, employee and employer contributions, reporting and secure data exchange with relevant pension scheme administrators and providers. This is expected to cover Northern Ireland Civil Service pension arrangements, the Assembly Members’ Pension Scheme and pension schemes applicable to Members’ support staff and Party staff.

Payroll processing numbers are estimated at 600 direct employees and 600 non-direct employees and payroll administrators are estimated at 30.

The system will need to accommodate the Assembly Commission’s parliamentary operating context, including relevant HR, payroll or pension records and processes for Assembly Commission staff, Assembly Members, Members’ support staff, Party staff, Policing Board staff and pensioners, as applicable. Appropriate separation of records and access permissions will be required to reflect the different employing bodies and user groups.

The system should provide secure, accessible self-service functionality, including access to payslips and P60s, permitted updates to personal information, leave requests and relevant approval workflows. Reporting capabilities should support operational management, workforce information, payroll and pension reporting, and Northern Ireland equality-monitoring requirements. Role-based access, confidentiality controls, audit trails, document management and records retention will be required throughout.

Associated services are expected to include system configuration, data migration and validation, integration, testing, user training, transition and go-live support, and ongoing maintenance and support, including updates to reflect applicable legislative changes. Detailed scope, functional and technical requirements, implementation arrangements and service levels will be set out in the tender documentation.

Estimated Value

The Assembly Commission is currently finalising the business case for this project, but early estimates for the 8 year contract which will cover licensing, implementation, support and maintenance and training is £1.4M exclusive of VAT. This early estimate is anticipated to cover implementation, support, maintenance and licensing for the HR and payroll solution. This will be subject to change pending business case approval.

The Tender Notice will set out the final approved budget value.

Procurement Approach

The Assembly Commission intends to conduct this procurement using the Competitive Flexible Procedure.

The Assembly Commission anticipates conducting a three-stage competitive flexible procedure without a separate request-to-participate stage. Stage 1 will require an initial tender submission comprising evidence relating to conditions of participation and relevant previous experience, together with a high-level description of the proposed solution and its compliance with mandatory requirements.

Stages 1 and 2 will provide opportunities for suppliers to receive feedback before submitting their final tenders. Initial written responses and demonstrations will be reviewed but will not be formally scored, and these stages will not be used to shortlist suppliers, subject to applicable exclusion requirements and the published rules of the procedure. All suppliers submitting a Stage 1 response will be invited to take part in Stage 2.

Suppliers may choose to refine their written responses and demonstration material in light of the feedback received. Repeat live demonstrations are not anticipated. Suppliers will instead be required to provide their final demonstration material in a recorded format, such as a video or screencast, for assessment alongside their final written responses after the Stage 3 deadline. The tender documentation will explain the feedback arrangements, permitted revisions and submission requirements.

The Assembly Commission intends to rely on a qualifying planned procurement notice to permit a reduced tendering period under section 54(4) of the Procurement Act 2023.

Indicative Evaluation Approach

The Assembly Commission currently anticipates that tenders will be evaluated on the basis of the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) using the following indicative weightings:

•Quality: 60%

•Cost: 30%

•Social Value: 10%

We have not yet finalised the criteria or associated weightings, but to help suppliers plan we are considering the following criteria:

Stage 1

•Conditions of participation

•Supplier’s previous experience of successfully delivering a similar service provision

•Supplier’s proposed delivery team

•Supplier’s proposed solution

Stage 2

•Supplier demonstration of two specific scenarios

Stage 3

•Implementation, migration and transition

•Business continuity and disaster recovery

•Contract management

•Social value

•Costs

The stages above indicate when information will initially be requested, rather than separate evaluation or elimination stages. A single formal assessment of the final submissions will take place after the Stage 3 deadline, including assessment against conditions of participation, mandatory requirements and the published award criteria.

The final evaluation methodology, award criteria and procurement process will be detailed within the procurement documentation.