Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
The Excutive OFfice
SD03 Stormont Castle Stormont Estate
BELFAST
BT4 3TT
Contact
SSDAdmin.CPDfinance-ni.gov.uk
SSDAdmin.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Buyer's address
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
one.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at
https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted to the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
ID 5751799 - TEO - Stenography Services for NI Public Inquiries
Reference number
ID 5751799
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 75231100 - Law-courts-related administrative services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
To assist the Chairs in implementing the Inquiries as required by their separate Terms of Reference, the Inquiries Act 2005 and Inquiry Rules 2006, bespoke Inquiry legislation, and the Protocols, and with a particular emphasis on fairness, cost-effectiveness and timeliness, the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Northern Ireland Office wish to procure stenography and transcription services to support multiple concurrent inquiries. The Contractor must provide the following, Provision of accurate, real-time transcripts of oral hearings (including translated versions, if required); Provision of daily finalised transcripts for Inquiry records within two hours of the end of the oral hearing; and • Initially inquiry locations are expected to be (this will be determined by each inquiry): Bradford Court, 1 Bradford Court, Galwally, Belfast and Corn Exchange, 31 Gordon Street, Belfast. The Contractor will also be required to provide ad-hoc stenography and transcription services at external locations across the UK or in the Republic of Ireland.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £3,000,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79551000 - Typing services
- 79550000 - Typing, word-processing and desktop publishing services
- 79530000 - Translation services
- 79540000 - Interpretation services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
To assist the Chairs in implementing the Inquiries as required by their separate Terms of Reference, the Inquiries Act 2005 and Inquiry Rules 2006, bespoke Inquiry legislation, and the Protocols, and with a particular emphasis on fairness, cost-effectiveness and timeliness, the Northern Ireland Civil Service and the Northern Ireland Office wish to procure stenography and transcription services to support multiple concurrent inquiries. The Contractor must provide the following, Provision of accurate, real-time transcripts of oral hearings (including translated versions, if required); Provision of daily finalised transcripts for Inquiry records within two hours of the end of the oral hearing; and • Initially inquiry locations are expected to be (this will be determined by each inquiry): Bradford Court, 1 Bradford Court, Galwally, Belfast and Corn Exchange, 31 Gordon Street, Belfast. The Contractor will also be required to provide ad-hoc stenography and transcription services at external locations across the UK or in the Republic of Ireland.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
two.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT: £3,000,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
60
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
Option to extend for up to two further periods of twelve months each
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
Option to extend for up to two further periods of twelve months each
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information
three.1) Conditions for participation
three.1.3) Technical and professional ability
Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date
24 March 2025
Local time
3:00pm
four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
English
four.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Tender must be valid until: 22 June 2025
four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date
24 March 2025
Local time
3:30pm
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
six.2) Information about electronic workflows
Electronic ordering will be used
Electronic invoicing will be accepted
Electronic payment will be used
six.3) Additional information
Contract Value. The figure indicated in Section II 1.5 represents the maximum contract value. However, as this is a call off contract that is demand driven there is no guarantee to the level of work. The estimated contract value is a range between £1m and £3m which will be determined by the usage off the contract depending on the number of enquiries at both locations.. . . Suppliers not delivering on contract requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is paying for. If a.. Supplier fails to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance they will be given a specified time to improve. If, after the specified time,.. they still fail to reach satisfactory levels of contract performance, the matter will be escalated to senior management in CPD for further.. action. If this occurs and the performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, it may be regarded as. an. act of grave professional misconduct and they may be issued with a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance and their place on the. contract. may be terminated. The issue of a Notice of unsatisfactory Performance will result in the contractor being excluded from all. procurement. competitions being undertaken by Centres of Procurement Expertise on behalf of bodies covered by the Northern Ireland. Procurement. Policy for a period of twelve months from the date of issue of the Notice.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The UK does not have any such bodies with responsibility for appeal/mediation procedures. Instead; any challenges are dealt with by the High Court, Commercial Division, to which proceedings may be issued regarding alleged breaches of the PCR 2015 as amended.
uk
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
CPD will comply with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended). and, where appropriate, will incorporate a standstill period (i.e. a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award. of contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. This provides time for the. unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award decision before the contract is entered into.