EA Integrated Financial Management Information System Inc. HR/Payroll (Formerly the iFS Project / now known as the EA One Project)

Location

Belfast

Description

Provision of a fully integrated Finance and HR/Payroll system for the Education Authority

Total Quantity or Scope

The contract is for an integrated Financial Management Information system and HR/Payroll (including DE's Teachers' payrolls) to meet the Financial Accounting and Reporting requirements and the HR management and Payroll requirements of the Education Authority and the Department of Education.

Award Detail

Renewal Options

The initial contract duration for the iFS Contract will be for a period of ten (10) years. The contract will include an option to extend the contract for five (5) further periods of one (1) year (15 years in total).

CPV Codes

• 72250000 - System and support services

Indicators

• Options are available.
• Award on basis of price and quality.

Legal Justification

The legislation governing the Contract Modification is the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) and Regulation 72 (Modification of contracts during . their term). For this particular contract modification EA could rely on Reg 72(1)(e). Regulation 72(1)(e) states; The changes are “not substantial’, and further defines “not substantial” as under Regulation 72(8) of the PCRs as: (a) the modification does not render the contract materially different in character; (b) the modification does not introduce any conditions which, had they been part of the initial procurement, would have (i) allowed for admission of other candidates than those initially selected; (ii) allowed for the acceptance of a tender other than that originally accepted; or (iii) attracted additional participants in the procurement procedure; (c) the modification does not change the economic balance of the contract in favour of the contractor; (d) the modification does not extend the scope of the contract considerably; and (e) the modification does not replace the contractor that the contract was initially awarded to. The introduction of the e-Invoicing module to this contract does not: (f) render the contract materially different in character – (this is an integral module to most modern Finance and Payment systems); (g) it doesn’t introduce any new conditions that would have allowed for the admission of other candidates, or, allowed for the acceptance of another tender, or, attracted additional participants in the original procurement procedure; (h) the modification value of £213,000.00 represents a very small percentage increase (i.e. 0.7%) to the original contract value; (i) the scope of the modification does not extend the scope of the contract considerably (it is a fairly small piece of functionality that is being added to the overall solution); and (j) the modification does not replace the contractor that the contract was initially awarded to (the contract remains with Fujitsu).

Other Information

This VEAT is to inform the market of the proposal to modify this contract to enable the addition and introduction an integrated Punchout solution to the iFS system. The introduction of this solution will involve the addition of £213,000.00 to the Overall Contract Value (this value is for all envisaged costs for the delivery and operation of the Punchout solution up to 31/03/2027).. . The revised overall contract value will then be £40,401,666.00.. . The introduction of the module will aid EA to comply with its legal requirements as detailed below: . - The Procurement Act 2024 (section68(2)) requires that 100% undisputed invoices are paid within 30 days. EA currently has a Prompt Payment target to pay invoices within 30 days, and achievement of this is dependent on having an efficient way of raising orders. Punchout will support ordering accuracy, leading to less credit notes and payment delays due to difficulties in invoice matching.