---
title: "Screening and Assessment Lot 2 Reading Paper Tool Contingency"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05a0c0"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05a0c0"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05a0c0.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05a0c0.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "MINISTRY OF JUSTICE"
published: "2025-09-24"
---

# Screening and Assessment Lot 2 Reading Paper Tool Contingency

Buyer: MINISTRY OF JUSTICE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05a0c0

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## Summary

The Ministry of Justice has awarded a contract for the "Screening and Assessment Lot 2 Reading Paper Tool Contingency" under a direct award procurement method, due to intellectual property and exclusive rights considerations. The project focuses on a paper-based assessment tool to measure prisoners' decoding abilities to aid literacy interventions. The procurement process, completed on 24th September 2025, was necessitated by previous unsuccessful digital solutions. The direct award was made to Powell Phonics Ltd, an SME based in Northampton. The contract, valued at £49,238, will run from 1st October 2025 to 30th September 2027, covering the adult and other education services category across the United Kingdom.

This tender presents an opportunity for businesses, particularly those with niche services or products in education and prison system literacy, to align with public sector needs. SMEs and businesses with unique intellectual property in education tools are well-suited to compete for similar contracts due to the emphasis placed on specialised and exclusive solutions. This contract highlights the Ministry of Justice's initiative to enhance educational outcomes within correctional facilities, offering growth potential for suppliers capable of providing tailored educational assessment tools.

## Notice

A paper based assessment tool for accurately measuring the decoding ability of prisoners, supporting targeted literacy interventions and contributing to educational planning and rehabilitation efforts. Objectives: * Provide a standardised and reliable measure of prisoners' decoding ability * Enable prison staff and education teams to identify literacy needs quickly and effectively * Support rehabilitation pathways and progression in English provision within prisons * Produce consistent, comparable data that can be aggregated at establishment and system level

### Procurement Information

Under the new Prison Education Services (PES), the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is required to provide a digital platform for the Screening and Assessment (S&A) of prisoners in functional skills, reading, and additional learning needs. However, following two recent unsuccessful procurement exercises for the reading element, the Authority is currently unable to fulfil this obligation. As an interim measure, a paper-based solution will be implemented for reading-related screening and assessments. The evaluation tool to be provided is via sites licensed on an individual site license basis based upon the number of prisoners having assessments undertaken within a set period. The contracting authority (MoJ) is invoking the single-supplier direct award provisions under 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 This justification also applies due to: * The MoJ does not have any express rights to transfer or licence the intellectual property rights to any other supplier * No reasonable alternatives

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/059131-2025 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 24 Sep 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 24 Sep 2025 |
| Contract period | 30 Sep 2025 - 30 Sep 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £49,238 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | MINISTRY OF JUSTICE |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1H 9AJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | POWELL PHONICS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80400000 - Adult and other education services

## Release History

- 24 Sep 2025 at 09:38 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/059131-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/059131-2025
  24th September 2025 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- http://www.powellphonicschecker.com
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/procurement
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05a0c0. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05a0c0.json.