Provision of Defence Personal Injury Legal Services

THE EDUCATION AUTHORITY

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

18 Jun 2026 at 15:18

Tender

24 Feb 2026 at 16:23

Planning

03 Oct 2025 at 09:40

Summary of the contracting process

The Education Authority has completed the contracting process for the "Provision of Defence Personal Injury Legal Services," under procurement ID BSP 25 013. This procurement falls under the services category, specifically legal services, and is located in Belfast, United Kingdom. This contract was processed using an open procedure and carries a "light touch" regime status. The award was made to multiple suppliers, including NAPIER & SONS SOLICITORS LTD, DAC BEACHCROFT (N.IRELAND) LLP, KEOGHS NORTHERN IRELAND LLP, and TUGHANS LLP, with a total gross value of £2,640,000. The contract period will run from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2030, ensuring legal defence services on an as-and-when-required basis for the Education Authority and various educational institutions within Northern Ireland.

This tender represents a significant opportunity for solicitors and legal firms focusing on personal injury legal services to engage with public sector work without the constraint of an exclusivity or volume guarantee. With an open procedure, the tender was accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which were the only bidders in the final stage, highlighting the inclusivity and opportunity for diversified legal practices to expand their portfolio through public sector engagement. This tender suits firms experienced in legal advisory and representation services, especially those prepared to manage indeterminate workloads while maintaining a flexible, rotational service allocation approach.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Title

Provision of Defence Personal Injury Legal Services

Notice Description

The Education Authority would therefore seek to establish a Contract with up to 4 firms of solicitors for the Provision of Defence Personal Injury Legal Services (i.e. defence of actual or anticipated High Court or County Court personal injury proceedings served upon the Education Authority, Libraries NI, a Board of Governors of a controlled school or a Board of Governors of an Irish Medium School or the Trustees / Board of Governors of a Catholic Maintained School - and if necessary the undertaking of a separate initial claims investigation function- as well as the defence or prosecution of an appeal from any court decision given in any such proceedings and/or the bringing of third party proceedings or associated contribution proceedings); the conduct of all such proceedings or investigative function to be carried out in accordance with the Contractual Arrangements. This contract will be used on an as-and-when-required basis. EA does not make any commitment regarding the frequency or value of work to be allocated. Contractors shall understand that the workload is indeterminate. Accordingly, no form of exclusivity is conferred, nor is any volume guarantee granted by EA in relation to the provision of work to the Contractors. Although the majority of work will be allocated on a rotational basis, EA reserves the right at its absolute discretion to allocate all or any work under this contract to the Education Authority Solicitors or another legal services provider instead of allocating the work to either of the Contractors.

Planning Information

Details of the PME Questionnaire can be found in the CfT for this exercise on eTendersNI - link here https://etendersni.gov.uk/ Interested participants should complete the questionnaire and upload by 3pm on 10 October 2025. Completed questionnaires must be returned via the eTendersNI Messaging function as an attachment. If you have any other questions that you would wish to raise EA are happy to consider these also, such queries should be submitted following the declaration on the questionnaire.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a79c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057737-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security


CPV Codes

79000000 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

79100000 - Legal services

79110000 - Legal advisory and representation services

79111000 - Legal advisory services

79112000 - Legal representation services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,200,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£2,200,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£2,200,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
18 Jun 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
27 Mar 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
29 Oct 2025Expired
Award Date
15 Jun 20261 weeks ago
Contract Period
30 Jun 2026 - 30 Jun 2030 4-5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
THE EDUCATION AUTHORITY
Additional Buyers

EDUCATION AUTHORITY

Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BELFAST
Postcode
BT1 2NQ
Post Town
Northern Ireland
Country
Northern Ireland

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLN Northern Ireland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLN0 Northern Ireland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLN06 Belfast
Delivery Location
TLN Northern Ireland

Local Authority
Belfast
Electoral Ward
Duncairn
Westminster Constituency
Belfast North

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
4
Supplier Names

DAC BEACHCROFT (N.IRELAND

KEOGHS NORTHERN IRELAND

NAPIER & SONS SOLICITORS

TUGHANS

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

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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