Official UK procurement notice
PROVISION OF LARGE GOODS VEHICLE (LGV) TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT 2026- 2030 (3 LOTS)
Authority: Department for Infrastructure (Central government)
What is being bought3 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionDfI Training Centre wishes to establish a Framework Agreement with up to two Training Providers, for each of 3 Lots, to provide LGV training and assessment across Northern Ireland. The training is to include the following categories
• BE
• C1
• C1E
• C
• CE
The two Suppliers will be placed on a ranked list in order of merit, for each Lot, based on scores achieved during the evaluation. The Supplier ranked first will automatically be offered the work by DfI Training Centre.
Should they confirm they are unable to undertake and complete the work within the timescale and operational constraints set by DfI Training Centre, the second ranked Supplier for that Lot will then be offered the work.
The candidates are to be trained and tested in the area closest to their place of work as outlined below.
Lot 1 – Area 1 – Londonderry Test Centre, covering DFI Roads depots in the following areas: Londonderry, Limavady, Strabane, Coleraine, Ballycastle, Ballymoney, Omagh Cookstown, Magherafelt, Kesh, Enniskillen and Rivers offices in Enniskillen, Coleraine and Omagh.
Lot 2 – Area 2 – Craigavon Test Centre, covering DFI Roads depots in the following areas: Dungannon, Moygashel, Armagh, Craigavon, Banbridge, Newry and Seaforde and a Rivers office in Craigavon.
Read the full description (212 more characters)
Lot 3 – Area 3 – Belfast Test Centre, covering DFI Roads depots in the following areas: Belfast, Sandyknowes, Carrickfergus, Lisburn, Antrim, Larne, Bangor and Ballymena and Rivers offices in Lisburn and Belfast.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 8 May 2030, 23:59 BST.
CPV: Education and training services · Industrial and technical training services · Industrial training services · Training programme services · Training seminars · Training services · Vocational training services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Closed framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs are awarded directly to appointed suppliers, without further competition
- Framework period
- 1 yr · up to 4 yrs from 2 Nov 2026
Published description of the framework
Ranking The ranking is established at award of the primary framework with the first ranked Supplier approached. If that Supplier cannot meet the deadline, then the department will move to the second ranked Supplier.
Lots and requirements (3)Procurement structure
3 lots · all with a published value · same conditions of participation on every lot · same evaluation weights on every lotLot #1Area 1 – Londonderry Test CentreRenewalPublished value£152,586
- Value
- £152,586 exc. VAT · £183,104 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- Following the initial 1 year period, there are 3 potential extension periods of up to 12 months each. Optional extension periods will be subject to review and satisfactory performance assessment by the Contracting Authority
Lot #2Lot 2 – Area 2 – Craigavon Test CentreRenewalPublished value£152,586
- Value
- £152,586 exc. VAT · £183,104 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- Following the initial 1 year period, there are 3 potential extension periods of up to 12 months each. Optional extension periods will be subject to review and satisfactory performance assessment by the Contracting Authority
Lot #3Lot 3 – Area 3 – Belfast Test CentreRenewalPublished value£152,586
- Value
- £152,586 exc. VAT · £182,104 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- Following the initial 1 year period, there are 3 potential extension periods of up to 12 months each. Optional extension periods will be subject to review and satisfactory performance assessment by the Contracting Authority
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 (4)
- AC1 - Maintenance Facility — 10%
- AC2 - Technical Capability — 10%
- TOTAL OVERALL COST — 70%
- AC3 - Social Value — 10%
Published award criteria (4)
- AC1 - Maintenance Facility — As per Tender documentation.
- AC2 - Technical Capability — As per Tender documentation.
- AC3 - Social Value — As per Tender documentation.
- TOTAL OVERALL COST — As per Tender documentation.
- Technical & professional abilityAs per tender documentation
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Department for Infrastructure buys Vocational training services (CPV 8053) — and who usually turns up
Department for Infrastructure’s own published record, next to the Northern Ireland market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Vocational training services (CPV 8053) →
How the contest usually goes
Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested frameworks and DPS only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.
Department for Infrastructure
framework/DPS notices in 36 months: 2 in CPV 8053 · 2 in division 80 · 16 in all categories (6 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 21 lots. 12 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 5) and 9 from older notices (bids received, middle 6).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 21 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 61 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 3 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.
Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 47 notices.
i
How often this buyer awards without a competition.
Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 10 notices.
Northern Ireland · Vocational training services (CPV 8053)
framework/DPS notices delivered in Northern Ireland in 36 months: 7 in CPV 8053 (7 competed) · 22 in division 80 (22 competed) · the notice publishes no delivery location, so the authority’s registered region is used
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8053), last 36 months: 8 lots. All 8 lots are from older notices, which count bids received.
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8053), last 36 months: 8 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Nothing published for this region in this sector: not measured on frameworks — a panel award is a ceiling, not a price.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 80), last 36 months: 1 notices. Small sample.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.
SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8053), last 36 months: 8 lots.
i
How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.
Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8053), last 36 months: 8 awards.
Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.
i
Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.
We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.
This notice gives one total for several lots, so we show the percentage but do not turn it into pounds.
A benchmark, not a price to bid.
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
- “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
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
- Open admission
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 8 May 2030
- First published
- 23 Sept 2026, 09:47 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Sept 2026, 09:47 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 2 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Authority reference
CFT 6269047- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077833Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
For further details on invoicing procedures please see : https://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 framework value. This value reflects the potential scale of the framework and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services more…
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. The Contracting Authority cannot 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.
- 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 more…
awarded: 1. legislative changes eg. New laws governing e.g. health and safety standards, data protection etc. are due to be introduced, but the changes needed to comply are not known until the laws are fully defined. 2. IT systems eg. New cyber threats may emerge that require existing systems to be adapted. A cyber attack itself could cause damage to systems or data, with the cost will depend on the extent of the damage AND Has concluded that there is a possibility that the contract may have to be modified as a result of a materialisation of the known risk/s at a later date in accordance with Schedule 8 paragraph 5 of the Procurement Act 2023. Exclusions If at any time during the procurement, or post award, it comes to the attention of the Contracting Authority (CA), 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; and (III). to award (a) contract(s) in respect of any part(s) of the [services] covered by this notice. and in no circumstances will the Authority be liable for any costs incurred by candidates.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Apply via eTendersNI- Expression of interest (EOI)
- —
- Appointment period ends
- 19 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 12 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
5 published dates · Europe/London- Tender notice published1 day ago23 Sept 2026, 09:47 BST
- Clarification questions byin 18 days12 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST
- Admission / appointment period endsin 25 days · period end, not a bid countdown19 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST
- Contract startsin 38 days2 Nov 2026, 00:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 39 days2 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published23 Sept 2026, 09:47 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender