Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Department of Justice
c/o Construction and Procurement Delivery, 303 Airport Road West
BELFAST
BT3 9ED
UK
E-mail: justice.cpd@finance-ni.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
I.1) Name and addresses
Police Service of Northern Ireland
c/o Construction Procurement Delivery, Clare House, 303 Airport Road West
Belfast
BT3 9ED
UK
E-mail: Justice.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.psni.police.uk/
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
I.1) Name and addresses
Police Ombudsman Northern Ireland
c/o Construction Procurement Delivery, Clare House, 303 Airport Road West
Belfast
BT3 9ED
UK
E-mail: Justice.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.policeombudsman.org/
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract involves joint procurement
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
General public services
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
DoJ Face to Face Interpretation Service (for non-English speakers)
II.1.2) Main CPV code
79540000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
The Department of Justice (DOJ) seeks to establish a Contract for the provision of Face to Face Interpreting at locations throughout Northern Ireland. The provision of these services is essential to ensuring that the Criminal Justice Organisations (CJOs) can deliver a professional and progressive service to all those who enter the criminal justice system - including those who come before the civil, family or coroners’ courts, or who use tribunal proceedings administered by the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS). The main users of the contract will be: • Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) • Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) • Public Prosecution Service (PPS) • Probation Service of Northern Ireland (PBNI) • Legal Services Agency (LSANI) In addition to the five main users listed above, this contract may also be used by the following CJOs in Northern Ireland who are associated with and party to this contract: • The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) • The Youth Justice Agency • Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland • Northern Ireland Prisoner Ombudsman • The Department of Justice • Compensation Services Agency • Victim Support • Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust • Northern Ireland Policing Board The DOJ requires Contractors to provide comprehensive spoken language interpreting services to fulfil the current and evolving needs of the CJOs signed up to this contract. The Contractors must be able to provide interpreting services through qualified and experienced personnel for a wide range of languages. The Contractors must provide face to face interpreting services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Contractors must be able to provide interpreting services at premises located across Northern Ireland.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
6 500 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
79540000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKN
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Department of Justice (DOJ) seeks to establish a Contract for the provision of Face to Face Interpreting at locations throughout Northern Ireland. The provision of these services is essential to ensuring that the Criminal Justice Organisations (CJOs) can deliver a professional and progressive service to all those who enter the criminal justice system - including those who come before the civil, family or coroners’ courts, or who use tribunal proceedings administered by the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS). The main users of the contract will be: • Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) • Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service (NICTS) • Public Prosecution Service (PPS) • Probation Service of Northern Ireland (PBNI) • Legal Services Agency (LSANI) In addition to the five main users listed above, this contract may also be used by the following CJOs in Northern Ireland who are associated with and party to this contract: • The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) • The Youth Justice Agency • Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland • Northern Ireland Prisoner Ombudsman • The Department of Justice • Compensation Services Agency • Victim Support • Police Rehabilitation and Retraining Trust • Northern Ireland Policing Board The DOJ requires Contractors to provide comprehensive spoken language interpreting services to fulfil the current and evolving needs of the CJOs signed up to this contract. The Contractors must be able to provide interpreting services through qualified and experienced personnel for a wide range of languages. The Contractors must provide face to face interpreting services 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The Contractors must be able to provide interpreting services at premises located across Northern Ireland.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion: AC1 Recruitment, Selection, Monitoring, Vetting and Training
/ Weighting: 21
Quality criterion: AC2 Service Delivery
/ Weighting: 21
Quality criterion: AC3 Contract Management
/ Weighting: 18
Quality criterion: AC4 Social Value - Indication 4.2
/ Weighting: 10
Price
/ Weighting:
30
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
Yes
Description of options:
The contract is for an initial period of 3 years with one option to extend for a further period of up to 2 years.
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2025/S 000-000017
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: 1
Title: Contract
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
15/04/2025
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 4
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 2
Number of tenders received from tenderers from EU Member States: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 2
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 4
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
Yes
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Information withheld for security reasons
Information withheld for security reasons
BT13 2JF
UK
E-mail: justice.CPD@finance-ni.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Information withheld for security reasons
Information withheld for security reasons
UK
E-mail: justice.cpd@finance-ni.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
The contractor is an SME:
Yes
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot:
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 6 500 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.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 value listed is a broad estimate only and includes additional quantum for unforeseen demand and to future proof 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 contractor's 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.
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.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
UK
VI.4.3) Review procedure
Precise information on deadline(s) for review procedures:
CPD complied with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended), and incorporated a standstill period at the point information on the awards of the contracts was communicated to tenderers. Those. notifications provided full information on the award decision. This provided time for unsuccessful tenderers to challenge the award. decision before the contracts were entered into.
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
30/04/2025