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Prisoner Telephony Services – Bridging Agreement
AI Summary
The Ministry of Justice has announced a bridging agreement that will extend the current prisoner telephony service, which is operated by British Telecommunications plc under an existing concession contract. The agreement will continue to provide the full range of telephone and digital communications services used by inmates on the same terms and conditions as the current contract, and will also incorporate the necessary exit provisions to allow a smooth transition to the forthcoming Prisoner Integrated Communications Service (PICS). The purpose of this bridge is to give the Ministry sufficient time to govern, procure, mobilise, test and move into the next‑generation communications solution while maintaining uninterrupted service for the inmate population.
Under the bridge the service will consist of telecommunications services, network and equipment supplies, local area networking, and the construction and ancillary works required to support the communications systems. The contract is intended to be a direct‑award concession that can be administered under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023, reflecting the unique intellectual‑property or technical circumstances that preclude alternative suppliers. As such, the Ministry will continue to engage the incumbent provider to deliver the service through to 30 November 2031.
The bridge will run from 1 June 2027, the day after the existing contract expires, until the end of 2031, at which point the PICS contract will take effect. All services must be delivered under the same technical and regulatory framework as the current prisoner telephony concession contract and must include the agreed exit provisions for the end of the bridge period.
Description
The Bridging Agreement will be drafted as an extension/contract change notice to the Current PTS Contract. It will bridge the period for which the PTS is required, which is between 1 June 2027 (the Current PTS Contract expires 31 May 2027) up to 30 November 2031. This is the period required to enable governing, procuring, mobilising, testing and transitioning to the next generation communications service, called the Prisoner Integrated Communications Service (PICS).
The Bridging Agreement is permitted to be procured as a direct award concession contract under section 41 and schedule 5 paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Procurement Act 2023 in the alternative:
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
and in the alternative:
6 (a)due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and(b)there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works.
A transparency notice is being published separately for the Bridging Agreement.
For background information: The Authority has conducted several forms of preliminary market engagement for the PICS contracts which will replace the Bridging Agreement. Following that market engagement, the Authority has been developing plans for the replacement solution. The Authority intends to provide details of its procurement plans for PICS via pipeline notice(s) and further market engagement as the PICS project progresses through the Authority's governance. The procurement for the first PICS contract (which will replace the Bridging Agreement) is estimated to commence in 2027.
To obtain information from the preliminary market engagement which has occurred already and to register for updates for PICS, please contact vvn.cmo@justice.gov.uk
Estimated date of publication of contract notice: 2026-03-02T23:59:59+00:00
Contract location: UK
Lot: 1
Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted: En