Scope
Reference
ID 6127895
Description
The Office of the Police Ombudsman (OPONI) (Buyer / Authority) has a requirement for the provision of a COTS solution for the Provision, Implementation and Support of a Case Management System with one-way customer portal. (Contract).
OPONI requires a managed solution which will transform its current investigations tools and processes and deliver efficiencies by exploiting current and emerging technology matched to the current and future needs of OPONI's continuous improvement priorities.
Suppliers should refer to the ID 6127895 -Schedule 2 - Specification for full detail on the deliverables/requirements of this contract
This procurement is for the award of a public contract through a competitive flexible procedure in accordance with section 20(1) and (2)(b) of the PA 2023.
Total value (estimated)
- £3,000,000 excluding VAT
- £3,600,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 17 November 2025 to 16 June 2031
- Possible extension to 16 June 2036
- 10 years, 7 months
Description of possible extension:
There will be an option to extend the Contract for a further two periods; a 3-year extension and then a 2-year extension. (5 yrs 6 months (+ 3yrs + 2 yrs)).
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
- 72300000 - Data services
- 72212311 - Document management software development services
- 72416000 - Application service providers
- 48000000 - Software package and information systems
- 48311000 - Document management software package
- 48311100 - Document management system
- 48422000 - Software package suites
- 48517000 - IT software package
Contract locations
- UKN - Northern Ireland
Participation
Technical ability conditions of participation
As per Tender documentation
Particular suitability
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
3 October 2025, 11:59pm
Submission type
Requests to participate
Tender submission deadline
13 October 2025, 3:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders must be submitted electronically via the relevant Call for Tender (CfT) opportunity on eTendersNI, website details immediately below.
Paper submissions will not be accepted or considered and will be rejected by the Contracting Authority / Buyer.
The tender documents are available with unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: URL https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
14 November 2025
Recurring procurement
Publication date of next tender notice (estimated): 29 September 2036
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| AC 1 - Development & Implementation | As per Tender documentation. Weighting = 21% |
Quality |
| AC2 - Effectiveness of Solution | As per Tender documentation. Weighting = 10.8% |
Quality |
| AC3 - Data Security | As per Tender documentation. Weighting = 12% |
Quality |
| AC4 -Contract Management - Support and Contingency | As per Tender documentation. Weighting = 6% |
Quality |
| AC5 - Social Value | As per Tender documentation. Weighting = 10.2% |
Quality |
| AC6 - Price | As per Tender documentation. Weighting = 40% |
Cost |
Weighting description
Award Criteria (AC)
Other information
Payment terms
Contract Value
The estimated value figure indicated in the Scope Section represents an overall estimated contract value. This value reflects the potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services 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. Neither CPD nor the contracting 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. 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. No legally binding contract shall arise (and a Supplier 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.
Invoicing details are contained within the Tender Documents.
Description of risks to contract performance
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 awarded:
1. This contract includes additional service days to provide for continuous improvement and also to cover for unknown risks that may arise throughout the contract period. The additional services days may be used to cover the following as a minimum;
• Enhancement to the functionality of the solution within the scope of this contract;
• System configuration changes/upgrades;
• Enhancement or additional interface requirements;
• Technology changes - to support the introduction of new technologies;
• Changes required to the solution due to changes to legislation;
• Development of new reports or amendments to existing reports; and
• Import/export data changes to system interfaces
. Additional Training
The pricing Schedule includes an area for Suppliers to insert their daily rate for the provision of additional services throughout the contract period.
2. The Contracting Authority 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) or CPD, 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.
Insert appropriate reservations of rights and disclaimers of liability here consider - e.g.
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;
(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.
This tender competition includes a verification stage;
Before the intention to award phase, as part of the verification process, the tenderer with the highest scoring compliant bid will be required to provide a working demonstration of their proposed solution to verify some technical requirements by way of a verification exercise.
The solution must be demonstrated comprehensively against the requirements marked with '(Y) and (Y*) within the detailed requirements in Schedule 2 (Specification). This is to ensure that the solution meets the requirements. NOTE: the requirements indicated by (Y*) for verification, it is only the areas within that requirement marked with a * that will require to be verified.
In the event that the Tenderer's proposed system is determined not to comply with any Requirement of the specification following the verification exercise, the tenderer will be considered eliminated from the tender exercise and the next highest scoring tenderer will be asked to undertake verification.
Suppliers 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.
Applicable trade agreements
- Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
Solution Demonstration/Verification Stage
Before the intention to award phase, as part of the verification process, the tenderer with the highest scoring compliant bid will be required to provide a working demonstration of their proposed solution to verify some technical requirements by way of a verification exercise.
The solution must be demonstrated comprehensively against the requirements marked with '(Y) and (Y*) within the detailed requirements in Schedule 2 (Specification). This is to ensure that the solution meets the requirements. NOTE: the requirements indicated by (Y*) for verification, it is only the areas within that requirement marked with a * that will require to be verified.
In the event that the Tenderer's proposed system is determined not to comply with any Requirement of the specification following the verification exercise, the tenderer will be considered eliminated from the tender exercise and the next highest scoring tenderer will be asked to undertake verification.
Justification for not publishing a preliminary market engagement notice
The following PME's were carried out regarding this Tender, prior to PA23 therefore no PME Notices following the introduction of PA23 were issued;
CFT 1171583 - DOJ -Police Ombudsman NI - Replacement Case Handling System and recurring Support and Maintenance of the system -PME - Published on etendersni - 27/10/17
ID 3746608 - DOJ - PONI - Case Handling System (replacement) - Pre Market Engagement Exercise - Published on etendersni - 01/11/2021
ID 4777000 - DOJ - PONI- Provision of a Case Handling System - PME published on etendersni - 26/04/23
As part of this engagement suppliers were invited to submit a response to a questionnaire followed by meetings with suppliers who submitted a response with Police Ombudsman NI.
Contracting authority
Office of the Police Ombudsman Northern Ireland
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PDYZ-7751-QWQD
11 Church Street
BELFAST
BT1 1PG
United Kingdom
Region: UKN06 - Belfast
Organisation type: Public authority - central government
Devolved regulations that apply: Northern Ireland
Other organisation
These organisations are carrying out the procurement, or part of it, on behalf of the contracting authorities.
CPD - Supplies and Services Division
Summary of their role in this procurement: Construction and Procurement Delivery - Supplies and Services Division, is a Centre of Procurement Expertise and provides a central procurement function for central government in Northern Ireland
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PVWG-8426-YWXV
Clare House 303 Airport Road West
Belfast
BT3 9ED
United Kingdom
Region: UKN06 - Belfast