Award

NOMIS - Software, Live Service Support, Development and Maintenance

MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

AwardUpdate

05 Nov 2025 at 08:19

Award

08 Oct 2025 at 12:31

Award

11 Sep 2025 at 14:28

Award

31 Jul 2025 at 08:57

Planning

26 Jun 2025 at 09:35

Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process for the National Offender Management Information System (NOMIS) software and live service support was conducted by the Ministry of Justice, located in London, United Kingdom. This procurement focused on software package and information systems for HM Prison Service in England and Wales. The contract was awarded through a direct award method to N. Harris Computer Corporation, with the procurement stage now marked as complete. The agreement spans over a period starting from 29th September 2025 to 28th September 2028, with the possibility of extension to 28th September 2029. This project is significant within the category of IT services, including consulting, software development, Internet, and support, highlighting the essential role NOMIS plays in the management system for offenders in the UK.

This tender presents substantial business growth opportunities, particularly for businesses involved in the software and IT services sector, including software maintenance and repair services. The direct award was justified because of the need for intellectual property rights held exclusively by the supplier, making it ideal for organisations that have proprietary or specialised solutions integral to government operations. Businesses capable of offering innovative digital solutions or platforms that can integrate with existing large-scale systems may find similar projects of interest. Given that NOMIS is a critical service with multiple dependencies, companies with a robust portfolio in large-scale digital infrastructures are ideally suited to compete for similar future contracts.

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Notice Title

NOMIS - Software, Live Service Support, Development and Maintenance

Notice Description

The provision of the National Offender Information System (NOMIS) software and live service support, maintenance and development for HM Prison Service in England and Wales.

Procurement Information

The National Offender Management Information System ("NOMIS") is an operational database and is the core offender case management system used in prisons in England and Wales and therefore is a critical service. It is a digital system which holds details relating to the offenders which includes the type of offence(s), the type of custody and any other relevant personal information. In addition, there are many systems that have a dependency on NOMIS. For example: * prison reporting - a separate system which combines NOMIS data with other sources - prisons run thousands of reports a month; and * a separate analytical platform which combines NOMIS data with other systems to produce all MOJ official reports and statistics. NOMIS contains sensitive information and needs to be supported and maintained to prevent malfunctions, perform data fixes, and implement changes. The services to be provided by the supplier under the contract include licences for NOMIS, live service support and maintenance (third and fourth line) and ensuring NOMIS remains in vendor support with all components including database and middleware. The supplier has been licensing NOMIS since at least 2017. The services are required on a 3+1 year basis from and including 28 September 2025. The contracting authority ("MOJ") is relying on the single supplier direct award justifications in paragraphs 5 and 6 of schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023: * paragraph 5 (a) due to a particular supplier having intellectual property rights or other exclusive rights, only that supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b) there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works and * paragraph 6 (a) due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b) there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works The explanations for why the justifications apply are as follows. Intellectual property rights - paragraph 5. This justification applies because due to the intellectual property provisions in the contract only the supplier has the intellectual property rights needed to be able to provide the services. NOMIS has been in use for several years and the intellectual property provisions in the contract include the following: o all intellectual property rights existing in the NOMIS System at the start of the contract belong to the supplier and are the supplier's background intellectual property rights o all intellectual property rights created only by the supplier in relation to the NOMIS System during the term of the contract shall be deemed to be part of the NOMIS System and therefore owned by the supplier o MOJ does not have any express rights to transfer or licence the intellectual property rights in the NOMIS System to a replacement supplier No reasonable alternatives In the absence of the intellectual property rights that would be needed for an alternative supplier to be able to provide the services, the only reasonable potential alternative would be for another supplier to have to develop a replacement solution to MOJ's requirements, whether building from scratch or configuring a commercial off the shelf solution. They would then need time for testing and mobilisation of that solution. There is not sufficient time for any alternative supplier to design, build, test, and deploy an alternative solution by the date the services are required. This is evidenced by the number of years it is taking to replace NOMIS by transitioning to a new Digital Prison Services ("DPS"). The DPS platform is being deployed and is being used in all prisons with new services being rolled out incrementally over time to eventually end use of NOMIS for core prison functions. MOJ is 3-4 years into the build of DPS and the estimated full go live date of DPS is September 2028 with full replacement of NOMIS by 2029. It is not reasonable to procure and fully implement an alternative interim offender management system to NOMIS and DPS by 28 September 2025 or at any point prior to September 2028 because it would not be feasible to do so for practical and financial reasons. It would need to be bespoke to allow it to work with HMPPS and be integrated into wider MOJ systems. It would take a significant amount of time to design, secure all necessary approvals and governance including obtaining funding and procure a new interim system and roll it out fully which would include integrating it to ensure compatibility with other systems. NOMIS took over 3 years to roll out to the full prison estate and the transition from NOMIS to DPS is estimated to take a total of 6 years of dual running to transition fully away from NOMIS. Transitioning to an interim solution which is not NOMIS or DPS is not reasonable because it would mean having to train thousands of staff in prisons and other users of NOMIS to use a new interim system. Training on any new interim system would be essential because if staff did not know how to operate it correctly, the consequences could be catastrophic and would pose a very high risk to the safety of the public, MOJ staff and prisoners. Due to the current difficulties in prisons operations, a training programme of this size would not be feasible or reasonable especially for an interim solution. Therefore, there are no reasonable alternatives. The second justification is absence of competition for technical reasons - paragraph 6 There is an absence of competition for technical reasons which are based on the same arguments as for the intellectual property rights justification under paragraph 5, which are stated above. NOMIS is bespoke and an alternative supplier would not be able to walk in and take over the services on the date from which they are required due to the intellectual property rights of the supplier. Instead, another supplier would have to build a replacement service and as stated in the justification under paragraph 5 above, this is not possible to do by the time the services are required. No reasonable alternatives The same justifications, stated above, for why there are no reasonable alternatives for paragraph 5 intellectual property rights, apply to the justification for paragraph 6. Therefore, there are no reasonable alternatives.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0553f1
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/071077-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support


CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

72267000 - Software maintenance and repair services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£21,341,062 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
£21,341,062 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
5 Nov 20253 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
31 Jul 2025Expired
Award Date
31 Jul 20256 months ago
Contract Period
28 Sep 2025 - 28 Sep 2028 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
Contact Name
Commercial Digital and Technology Team
Contact Email
commercialstandards@justice.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1H 9AJ
Post Town
South West London
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

N. HARRIS COMPUTER

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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