Official UK procurement notice
ocds-h6vhtk-02bf26 · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Home Office (Central government)·Consortium: 3 public authorities
What is being bought2 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionThe Authority has undertaken this tender exercise to appoint suitably capable and experienced provider of a Digital Interviewing solution. It has utilised the Restricted Procedure, a multi-stage procurement process intended to short list qualified bidders, who where in turn invited to tender for the contract opportunity.
CPV: Development of transaction processing and custom software
Lots and requirements (2)Procurement structure
2 lots · 1 with a published valueLot #1Igital Interviewing is used by the Home Office Visas & Immigration Directorate to…AwardedPublished value£2,500,000
igital Interviewing is used by the Home Office Visas & Immigration Directorate to gather additional information to support a visa application or asylum claim. Interviews are currently carried out in-person and as remote interviews (via telephone or video links). Other areas of the Home Office also use interviewing to different extents.
This notice relates specifically to delivering a continuous operational service for Asylum and V&C Operations from January 2022 to 2023.
The core components of the project include:
- Digital Audio Recording Software; Capture the audio from all participants whether they are present in the host room or joining remotely via MS Teams. It will allow control of the audio (e.g. pause) during the interview and will link to the Interview Record Forms software.
- Interview Records Software: Capture typed information during the interview in relation to the interview including information about the interview, the participants and the questions, statements and response made during the interview.
- Cloud Hosted Storage: The audio record and the interview record forms will be saved and stored to cloud-hosted storage on completion of the interview or, if offline, when later connected to the network
- Management Information: The solution must provide reports of all digital interviews undertaken with filtering and sorting by all metadata data captured during interviewing and any automatically applied grouped by business area/team responsible.
- RBAC: The solution shall have Role-based User Access Control which will allow specific user roles to be defined - each with a specific set of permissions within the system
- Auto Transcription: Provision of automated transcripts from the recorded interview audio including all audio spoken during the interview in the English language only.
Lot #2Proc 645 Digital InterviewingLot estimate not published
Further to a Prior Information Notice (PIN) ref: CF-0160200D58000000L5A4EAK1 issued on 22 April 2021, The Authority is undertaking this tender exercise to appoint suitably capable and experienced provider of a Digital Interviewing solution. It utilises the Restricted Procedure, a multi-stage procurement process that is intended to short list qualified bidders, who will in turn be invited to tender for the contract opportunity.
The objective of the Selection Stage is to assess the responses to the SSQ and select Bidders to proceed to the ITT Stage of this procurement. The evaluation panel shall evaluate the SSQ responses using the selection criteria detailed in the SSQ document, which is provided on the Home Office e-sourcing portal. Bidders who pass this SSQ assessment will then be invited to tender.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (4)
- Technical: 70
- Presentation: 10
- Price: 30
- price: 100
Published award criteria (4)
- Technical: 70%
- Presentation: 10%
- Price: 30%
- Price: 100
- Price carries 130 of 210 points: a 10% discount moves about 13 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Restricted procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 22 Jun 2021, 22:45 BST
- Last source update
- 17 Apr 2026, 12:19 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-035145- Accelerated
PIN previously published (reference CF-0160200D58000000L5A4EAK1), and the Authority is using electronic tendering via its e-Sourcing portal.
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02bf26Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
- Performance terms
contract performance requirements are set out within the draft contract and relevant schedules. N.B. the draft Contract is based on the Crown Mid-Tier Model contract
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 25 Jun 2021, 23:59 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission","written"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Participation fee
- document
- Bid validity
- 180 days from the deadline
Timeline
25 Jun 2021 → 17 Apr 2026 · 4 dates- Submission deadline25 Jun 2021, 23:59 BST
- Invitations to tender expected26 Jul 2021, 00:00 BST
- Contract starts17 Mar 2022
- Notice published192 days ago17 Apr 2026, 12:19 BST
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 30 Mar 2022- Status changed to complete30 Mar 2022, 13:13 BST
- Buyer details updated30 Mar 2022, 13:13 BST
- Buyer details updated17 Apr 2026, 12:19 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lot 1 · Igital Interviewing is used by the Home Office Visas & Immigration Directorate to…1 award | |||
| BUSINESS SYSTEMS (U.K.) LIMITEDDigital Interviewing | £1,861,265 † | — | Awarded |
| Lot 2 · Proc 645 Digital Interviewing1 award | |||
| BUSINESS SYSTEMS (U.K.) LIMITED | £4,568,965 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Proc 645 Digital Interviewing · BUSINESS SYSTEMS (U.K.) LIMITED
- Signed
- 17 Mar 2023
- Value
- £4,568,965
- Period
- 17 Mar 2022 – 30 Sept 2026
- Status
- active
- Change The contract has been modified to extend the Transition Assistance Period (TAP) on a phased basis, comprising an initial three-month extension, followed by up to three optional additional one-month extensions. The initial three-month extension will be implemented to support the orderly transition of the Digital Interviewing service to an in-house delivery model and ensure continuity of service. The subsequent three one-month extensions are optional and may be exercised at the Authority’s discretion where required, depending on the progress of transition activities. The modification relates to the continuation of existing exit and transition support services only and does not change the overall nature of the contract. The estimated value of the modification reflects the maximum potential duration of the TAP extension (i.e. up to six months in total). The actual duration may be shorter if transition activities are completed earlier and the optional extension periods are not exercised. The contract has previously been subject to contract change notices relating to contract value adjustments and extensions in accordance with the contract provisions. This modification does not introduce any new services beyond those already provided for within the contract., Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire: The extension is required to ensure continuity of digital interviewing services during the transition to an in-house delivery model. The additional transition and exit support services have become necessary to complete the transfer of the service and can only be provided by the incumbent supplier due to their technical knowledge of the existing solution, configuration and operational processes. A change of contractor for this limited period is not feasible for technical and economic reasons and would result in significant operational risk, service disruption and duplication of mobilisation and knowledge transfer costs. The value of the modification remains within the 50% threshold permitted under Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations (PCR) 2015 and does not alter the overall nature of the contract.
Digital Interviewing · BUSINESS SYSTEMS (U.K.) LIMITED
- Signed
- 24 Dec 2021
- Value
- £1,861,265
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Lot | Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · Igital Interviewing is used by the Home Office Visas & Immigration Directorate to… | 6bids · 6 electronic · 2 from abroad | 1 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeDispute resolution & review bodies
- High Court of England and WalesReview body
- Secretary of State for the Home Department (Commercial Directorate)Review body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Business Systems (UK) LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria
- Technical selection criteria