Northern Ireland adds £15M to Fujitsu education deal without competition

The Education Authority in Northern Ireland has decided to extend its Fujitsu EA One contract by £15 million without launching a new competitive bidding process. This extension will raise the contract's maximum value to £55.4 million. Fujitsu will continue to provide services under the agreement until March 31, 2032, with the original contract set to expire in March 2027.

Public sector contracts awarded to Fujitsu have been under scrutiny since the company admitted its involvement in the Post Office Horizon scandal. Fujitsu has ceased bidding for new contracts with UK government customers until the outcome of the public inquiry, though it continues to pursue extensions and existing procurement opportunities.

The Education Authority plans to allocate the extra £15 million to cover the provision of services during the five-year extension while the customized Oracle-based finance, HR, and payroll system is replaced. The replacement process necessitates considerable lead time for design, procurement, implementation, and for the new solution to become standard practice.

The authority argues that the current EA One system, which has undergone extensive customization, should not be replaced by another supplier before the new system is in place to avoid technical disruptions, inconvenience, and duplicated costs. The extension ensures continuity of service and provides stability during the critical period of replacing the existing solution.

The contract's value currently stands at £40.4 million before the new extension and £55.4 million afterward. The original published value was £30 million, with the additional £15 million constituting precisely 50 percent of this figure. The initial award in 2015 was reported to be around £20 million, while a 2021 modification added £9.2 million.