Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service
c/o Construction and Procurement Delivery, 303 Airport Road West
Belfast
BT3 9ED
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UK - United Kingdom
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/topics/courts-and-tribunals
Buyer's address
https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
one.2) Information about joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
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 4973874 - DoJ - NICTS - Independent Investment Advisory Service for Court Funds Office
Reference number
ID 4973874
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 66000000 - Financial and insurance services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Northern Ireland Court Funds Office (CFO) is an office within the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS), an Agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The function of CFO is to administer and manage funds which are brought under court control for a variety of reasons. These include: • where money is awarded to a minor in a civil action; • where a person (a patient) is deemed to be incapable of managing their financial affairs because of mental incapacity; • where monies are lodged in satisfaction or against costs as a token of intention to proceed with litigation. CFO appoints an Investment Manager (the Manager) to provide professional investment management services in relation to the investment of these funds. The service includes making investment recommendations for a client’s funds according to the circumstances of the case, operating a sponsored CREST membership for CFO and processing investment transactions as directed. This service is an advisory service only, as funds can only be invested on the direction of the court. Currently, the role of CFO is overseen by the Court Funds Judicial Liaison Group (JLG), which comprises the Accountant General, members of the judiciary and independent members. The purpose and scope of the contract is to ensure that the quality of advice provided by the Manager is adequately assessed and investment recommendations made in respect of CFO clients are robustly challenged. Please refer to the document entitled ID 4973874 Specification for further information.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £360,000
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 66140000 - Portfolio management services
- 66120000 - Investment banking services and related services
- 66150000 - Financial markets administration services
- 66160000 - Trust and custody services
- 66170000 - Financial consultancy, financial transaction processing and clearing-house services
- 66152000 - Financial market regulatory services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKN - Northern Ireland
Main site or place of performance
Client locations within Northern Ireland as required.
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Northern Ireland Court Funds Office (CFO) is an office within the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS), an Agency of the Department of Justice (DOJ). The function of CFO is to administer and manage funds which are brought under court control for a variety of reasons. These include: • where money is awarded to a minor in a civil action; • where a person (a patient) is deemed to be incapable of managing their financial affairs because of mental incapacity; • where monies are lodged in satisfaction or against costs as a token of intention to proceed with litigation. CFO appoints an Investment Manager (the Manager) to provide professional investment management services in relation to the investment of these funds. The service includes making investment recommendations for a client’s funds according to the circumstances of the case, operating a sponsored CREST membership for CFO and processing investment transactions as directed. This service is an advisory service only, as funds can only be invested on the direction of the court. Currently, the role of CFO is overseen by the Court Funds Judicial Liaison Group (JLG), which comprises the Accountant General, members of the judiciary and independent members. The purpose and scope of the contract is to ensure that the quality of advice provided by the Manager is adequately assessed and investment recommendations made in respect of CFO clients are robustly challenged. Please refer to the document entitled ID 4973874 Specification for further information.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: AC1 Lead Advisor Experience / Weighting: 15
Quality criterion - Name: AC2 Team Experience / Weighting: 10
Quality criterion - Name: AC3 Proposed Methodology / Weighting: 20
Quality criterion - Name: AC4 Contract Management / Weighting: 5
Quality criterion - Name: AC5 Social Value / Weighting: 10
Cost criterion - Name: AC6 Fixed annual cost / Weighting: 28
Cost criterion - Name: AC7 One-off piece of work - procurement / Weighting: 4
Cost criterion - Name: AC8 Additional services - daily rate / Weighting: 8
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: Yes
Description of options
Initial period - 5 yearsOne extension option of 2 years
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 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.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2023/S 000-036514
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
1
Title
Independent Investment Advisory Service for Court Funds Office
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
8 March 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 2
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from other EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 1
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 2
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Information withheld for security reasons
Information withheld for security reasons
BT3 9ED
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
Internet address
https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: £360,000
Total value of the contract/lot: £360,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
Please note that information relating to contractors engaged by the Northern Ireland Department of Justice, and associated bodies, is not published in any publicly accessible forum or publication. This is to protect such contractors, whose security and safety could be threatened by dissident terrorist organisations still active in Northern Ireland if their details became known. This is consistent with Regulation 50(6)(a).. . The contract values listed are broad estimates only and include additional quantum for unforeseen demand and to futureproof for additional potential. There is no guarantee of any level of business under this contract. The estimate is not deemed to be a condition of contract nor a guarantee of minimum demand or uptake. No compensation will be payable to a contractor should the actual demand be less than that stated. . . Contract Monitoring: The successful contractors' performance on this contract will be managed as per specification and 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 for further action. If this occurs and their 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 written warning and notice of unsatisfactory performance and this contract may be terminated. The issue of a notice of written warning and 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 up to 3 years. from the date of issue of the notice.. . This project will be used to progress the Government’s. wider social, economic and environmental objectives.
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.
N/A
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures
CPD complied with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and incorporated a standstill period (i.e a minimum of 10 calendar days) at the point information on the award of the contract was communicated to tenderers. That notification provided full information on the award decision. This provided time for the unsuccessful tenderer to challenge the award decision before the contract was entered into.