---
title: "DoJ Provision of Electronic Monitoring Services in Northern Ireland"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0367a9"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0367a9"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0367a9.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0367a9.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE"
published: "2025-03-31"
---

# DoJ Provision of Electronic Monitoring Services in Northern Ireland

Buyer: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0367a9

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## Summary

The Department of Justice (DoJ) in Northern Ireland has awarded a contract for the provision of Electronic Monitoring (EM) services for offenders. The procurement, classified under security services, specifically targets monitoring offenders within the community to ensure compliance with curfew conditions. This tender is crucial for public protection tool used by the judiciary and criminal justice agencies such as the NI Court Service, Police Service of Northern Ireland, NI Prison Service, and Probation Board NI. The contract, valued at £20,000,000 and signed on 27th March 2025, will span five years with possible extensions totalling up to ten years. The procurement stage is complete, and the process followed a competitive procedure with negotiation.

This tender presents significant business growth opportunities for firms specialising in security and surveillance services, especially those involved in electronic tagging and monitoring systems. Companies with experience in public protection and offender management technologies are well-suited to participate in this tender. Given the advanced requirements and the potential for long-term engagement, entities capable of providing robust, reliable and high-security solutions will find ample prospects within this contract. The demands for stringent performance monitoring and compliance further underscore the importance of supplier capabilities in maintaining high service standards.

## Notice

The Department of Justice (DOJ) require a contract for the provision of services for the Electronic Monitoring (EM) of offenders in Northern Ireland. The scope of EM is a public protection tool for both for the judiciary and for the criminal justice agencies monitoring offenders in the community. The Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland ) Order 2008 ("the 2008 Order") provides that electronic monitoring services are made available to facilitate effective monitoring of offenders' compliance with curfew conditions aimed at enhancing their supervision and limiting their opportunity to reoffend. EM is a key public protection tool for both for the judiciary and for the criminal justice agencies (CJA) who monitor offenders in the community. The four CJA clients using EM services are: * NI Court Service (NICTS); *Police Service NI (PSNI); * NI Prison Service (NIPS); and * Probation Board NI (PBNI). EM currently monitors adherence to curfews requiring the confinement of the subject within the boundaries of an approved address for a period of between 2 and 12 hours per day. It uses an electronic tag fitted to a subject which sends a signal to a receiver unit located at the curfew address - usually the subject's home. During the hours of the curfew, breaks in the signal (where the tag goes out of range of the receiver) indicate that a curfew violation has occurred and are verified and reported by the service provider to the appropriate supervising CJA. The monitoring information EM provides can be presented at court to confirm curfew condition violations or support the prosecution case in relation to any other offences which may have been committed whilst being monitored. It therefore plays an important role in levels of public confidence, hampers the ability of an offender to reoffend (during the curfew hours when the court believes they are at greatest risk of re-offending) and can provide valuable information to statutory authorities which can be used to support the detection and prosecution of crime.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The Department of Justice (DOJ) require a contract for the provision of services for the Electronic Monitoring (EM) of offenders in Northern Ireland. The scope of EM is a public protection tool for both for the judiciary and for the criminal justice agencies monitoring offenders in the community. The Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland ) Order 2008 ("the 2008 Order") provides that electronic monitoring services are made available to facilitate effective monitoring of offenders' compliance with curfew conditions aimed at enhancing their supervision and limiting their opportunity to reoffend. EM is a key public protection tool for both for the judiciary and for the criminal justice agencies (CJA) who monitor offenders in the community. The four CJA clients using EM services are: * NI Court Service (NICTS); *Police Service NI (PSNI); * NI Prison Service (NIPS); and * Probation Board NI (PBNI). EM currently monitors adherence to curfews requiring the confinement of the subject within the boundaries of an approved address for a period of between 2 and 12 hours per day. It uses an electronic tag fitted to a subject which sends a signal to a receiver unit located at the curfew address - usually the subject's home. During the hours of the curfew, breaks in the signal (where the tag goes out of range of the receiver) indicate that a curfew violation has occurred and are verified and reported by the service provider to the appropriate supervising CJA. The monitoring information EM provides can be presented at court to confirm curfew condition violations or support the prosecution case in relation to any other offences which may have been committed whilst being monitored. It therefore plays an important role in levels of public confidence, hampers the ability of an offender to reoffend (during the curfew hours when the court believes they are at greatest risk of re-offending) and can provide valuable information to statutory authorities which can be used to support the detection and prosecution of crime.

Options: The Contract will be for an initial period of five (5) years, with scope for two further extensions, of three (3) and two (2) years. If both extension periods are used, the total contract period will be ten (10) years.

### Procurement Information

DoJ awarded a contract in 2018, which was terminated prior to going live. To ensure service continuity, DoJ extended the existing contract while a new competitive process was initiated in January 2020. Pre-market engagement responses were receipted early 2020 and about to be assessed when the COVID pandemic hit. The new process had to be put on hold immediately as DoJ and CPD resources were prioritised to COVID response activities. DoJ had to ensure delivery of business as usual for this critical service while working around constraints and working conditions imposed by the pandemic. The current contract was due to expire in October 2022. Provision of this service is a statutory requirement under the Criminal Justice (NI) Order 2008 and there are serious legal and public protection ramifications if it is not in place. Lack of service would significantly impact on the ability to manage the risk of those on bail or those who have been released subject to licence conditions, who are often released on the basis of an EM curfew being in place. In Northern Ireland, there is the added risk and profile of tagging high risk terrorist subjects, with substantial legal scrutiny and press interest in this matter. There are derogations under the Public Contracts Regulations to award a contract where the supplies or services can only be supplied by a particular supplier for the following reasons: - a) Where competition is absent for technical reasons (regulation 32(2) (b) (ii)); but only, where no reasonable alternative or substitute exists and the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement. b) Regulation 32(5)(b) for additional deliveries by the original supplier which are intended either as a partial replacement of supplies or installations or as the extension of existing supplies or installations where a change of supplier would oblige the contracting authority to acquire supplies having different technical characteristics which would result in incompatibility or disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance. The current service is very complex, high risk with serious legal ramifications if it fails e.g. adverse public protection outcomes, including in respect of terrorist related offenders; legal challenges and associated financial penalties for the department; ECHR and deprivation of liberty related issues where EM is not available to manage release on bail or licence. There are high switching costs and high technical thresholds which require a significant period of testing to satisfy the Department and stakeholders that another provider could deliver the service to the required standard. This would include multiple field and breach reporting tests, equipment/hardware tests, process testing and interoperability with existing DOJ/CJO systems. Pre-market engagement was completed to aid the new procurement process which identified a lack of awareness/understanding of the NI Criminal Justice system, and highlighted that a limited number of suppliers had any geographic footprint locally. This is a specialist and limited market. As equipment and installations are a large proportion of the contract, retaining the incumbent is the only option. It will be VFM in that there is stable, quality service delivery that will ensure the Department can deliver its statutory obligations. There will be no requirement to purchase new equipment until the new contract is in place. Any other provider would have to bring in new equipment/new technology etc all of which would need to be robustly tested over time. This will be an interim contract to ensure continuity of services while a tender process (already initiated) occurs. The anticipated go live date is 1st April 2024. The tender opportunity and Contract Notice will be advertised in FTS in due course.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/011897-2025 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Competitive procedure with negotiation |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 31 Mar 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 5 Sep 2022 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £22,400,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE |
| Additional buyers | POLICE SERVICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND; PROBATION BOARD FOR NORTHERN IRELAND |
| Locality | BELFAST |
| Post town | Northern Ireland |
| Postcode | BT3 9ED |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| ITL 1 | TLN Northern Ireland |
| ITL 2 | TLN0 Northern Ireland |
| ITL 3 | TLN06 Belfast |
| Local authority | Belfast |
| Electoral ward | Sydenham |
| Westminster constituency | Belfast East |
| Delivery location | TLN Northern Ireland |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | INFORMATION WITHHELD FOR SECURITY REASONS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79710000 - Security services
- 79714000 - Surveillance services

## Release History

- 31 Mar 2025 at 06:05 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/011897-2025
- 28 Nov 2022 at 15:04 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/033662-2022
- 12 Sep 2022 at 11:48 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/025508-2022

## Notice URLs

- https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/topics/procurement
- https://www.justice-ni.gov.uk/
- https://www.pbni.org.uk/
- https://www.psni.police.uk/

## Provenance

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