Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Department of Finance DoF
Craigantlet Buildings, Stoney Road
BELFAST
BT4 3SX
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.2) Information about joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
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 5448223 - DoF - Provision of CHECK Services
Reference number
ID 5448223
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Department of Finance, for itself and on behalf of other public sector organisations in Northern Ireland, is establishing a Contract with suitable Supplier for the provision of CHECK Services on a Call-Off basis as defined within this Specification. A list of all participating Bodies (Buyer(s)) who can call-Off this Contract can be found in the Specification Document at Annex A. This is a Call- Off Contract for the Provision of CHECK Services. The Contract will be for an initial period of 2 years with options to extend for two further periods of two years each. The Provision of CHECK Services Call-Off Contract services required include, but are not limited to, the following, the provision of CHECK penetration testing services and providing independent verification for Services, Systems and Applications supporting the Buyer(s) business operations on a Call-Off Contract basis. For further details as to the requirements please refer to the document entitled ID 5448223 – Specification.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £8,200,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
- 72590000 - Computer-related professional services
- 72800000 - Computer audit and testing services
- 72810000 - Computer audit services
- 72820000 - Computer testing services
- 72700000 - Computer network services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN - Northern Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Department of Finance, for itself and on behalf of other public sector organisations in Northern Ireland, is establishing a Contract with suitable Supplier for the provision of CHECK Services on a Call-Off basis as defined within this Specification. A list of all participating Bodies (Buyer(s)) who can call-Off this Contract can be found in the Specification Document at Annex A. This is a Call- Off Contract for the Provision of CHECK Services. The Contract will be for an initial period of 2 years with options to extend for two further periods of two years each. The Provision of CHECK Services Call-Off Contract services required include, but are not limited to, the following, the provision of CHECK penetration testing services and providing independent verification for Services, Systems and Applications supporting the Buyer(s) business operations on a Call-Off Contract basis. For further details as to the requirements please refer to the document entitled ID 5448223 – Specification.
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: £8,200,000
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months
24
This contract is subject to renewal
Yes
Description of renewals
This Contract is for an initial period of 2 years with 2 further optional extension periods of up to 2 years each
two.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted: No
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
This Contract is for an initial period of 2 years with 2 further optional extension periods of up to 2 years 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
two.2.14) Additional information
The figure indicated in Section II 1.5 represents the maximum contract value. This value reflects the potential scale of the Contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods as detailed in the tender documents. However, as this is demand driven there is no guarantee to the level of work. The estimated contract value is an estimated range between £5m and £8.2m which will be determined by the usage off the contract. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation. This is a Contract for the provision of Check Services on a Call-Off basis. For a list of participating bodies whom may avail of this Contract, please refer to Annex A of the Specification Document. . Neither CPD nor the Authority can 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. Economic Operators remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Economic Operator 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. No legally binding contract shall arise (and an Economic Operator shall have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the Contracting Authority. Economic Operators should note that all dates, time periods and figures in relation to values and volumes specified in this notice and the procurement documents are approximate only and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change any or all of them.
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
27 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: 25 June 2025
four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date
27 March 2025
Local time
3:30pm
Section six. Complementary information
six.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: Yes
Estimated timing for further notices to be published: This contract will potentially be due to be re-procured after the initial contract period and/or following any extensions
six.3) Additional information
Contract monitoring: the successful contractor’s performance on the contract will be regularly monitored. Contractors not delivering on contract requirements is a serious matter. It means the public purse is not getting what it is paying for. If a contractor 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 construction and procurement delivery (CPD) for further action. If this occurs and their performance still does not improve to satisfactory levels within the specified period, this may be considered grounds for termination of the contract at your expense as provided for in the Conditions of Contract. In lieu of termination, CPD may issue a Notice of Written Warning or a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance. A supplier in receipt of multiple Notices of Written Warning or a Notice of Unsatisfactory Performance may, in accordance with The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended), be excluded from future public procurement competitions for a period of. up to three years.. . "The 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;. (III). to award (a) contract(s) in respect of any part(s) of the [services] covered by this notice; and. (IV). to award contract(s) in stages.. . and in no circumstances will the Authority be liable for any costs incurred by candidates."
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.
Belfast
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.