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Introduction
The Education Authority (EA) is responsible for ensuring that children identified through a Statement of Special Educational Needs (SEN) are placed in an appropriate educational setting. The EA continues to experience increasing demand for SEN places for children with complex needs and severe learning difficulties across Northern Ireland, with pressures particularly acute for pre-school places in the Greater Belfast Area.
Given the educational nature of the service, the procurement was conducted in accordance with Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 02/21 – Procurement of Social and Other Specific Services (Light Touch Regime). This value of this tender meant that PPN 01/21 Scoring Social Value also applied.
Objectives
From the outset, the primary objective was to create additional non-statutory SEN pre-school capacity.
To address the pressures on pre-school places, a procurement was initiated to invite organisations within the Greater Belfast area to provide additional capacity while maintaining a high standard of education. SEN pre-school provision is a highly specialised and critical service with a limited number of providers in the local market. To minimise supply risk, the procurement strategy was to award contracts to multiple providers, diversifying the supply base and supporting future capacity.
Actions
A Pre-Market Engagement (PME) exercise was carried out through an initial questionnaire, followed by consultation meetings. These meetings allowed potential providers, predominantly from the community and voluntary sector, to ask questions and gain clarity on the procurement objectives and process.
PME confirmed that the market was limited and that the providers had limited knowledge and experience of tendering for public contracts. To encourage as many submissions as possible, EA Commercial Procurement Service (CPS) and the Evaluation Panel agreed that an open tender procedure was the most appropriate route and that the evaluation process should remain proportionate.
To ensure suppliers had the capability to deliver provision for children with severe and complex needs, Conditions of Participation relating to relevant experience were included.
The tender included mandatory submission of a social value delivery plan using the ‘Alternative approach’, selecting the two most relevant themes:
- Increasing Secure Employment and Skills
- Promoting Wellbeing
Advice from the Strategic Investment Board (SIB) confirmed that, given the light-touch nature of the contract, the standard points-based method was not appropriate. The alternative model satisfied the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) requirements while remaining proportionate for suppliers whose individual contract values fall below the £500,000 threshold.
Outcome
The procurement successfully secured the delivery of high-quality SEN pre-school places across Greater Belfast, meeting EA’s objective of increasing capacity within a specialist and constrained market. Early supplier engagement and a proportionate open procedure encouraged participation from voluntary-sector organisations and ensured the evaluation focused on what mattered most: service quality and staff expertise.
Overall, the approach mitigated supply risk, ensured fair access for community organisations, and established a strong foundation for future expansion and continuous improvement.
Conclusion
This procurement exercise demonstrates how a carefully designed, proportionate process can meet a critical service need within a highly specialised, capacity-restricted market. Early engagement with providers, an evaluation strategy that prioritised quality over price, and tailored reporting and social value requirements helped ensure an accessible, transparent, and outcome-focused process.
The decisions reflect a strong understanding of both the strategic importance of SEN pre-school provision and the practical realities of the voluntary sector. As a result, EA has secured a capable, diverse supply base to deliver high-quality specialist education for children with complex needs, while creating meaningful additional capacity across Greater Belfast.