Provision of MHR People First HR and Payroll Software and Associated Services

Description

Havant and South Downs College intends to enter into a call-off contract with Softcat plc for MHR People First, an integrated cloud HR and native payroll platform, together with associated implementation, hosting and support services. The platform will support a single employee record, HR and payroll administration, employee and manager self-service, workflow automation and workforce reporting. The scope comprises People First HR Hub, Payroll, Talent, LearnNow and Data Explorer (Core HR and Absence); the Pension Data Solution (LGPS and MDC); single sign-on and Active Directory synchronisation; hosting and maintenance; configuration, implementation, data migration and parallel payroll runs; training; the MHR Assist programme; and support and service desk. Pricing is based on approximately 800 employees plus 50 casual staff. Recruitment & Onboarding, Learning (LXP), BYOBI and RightCheck screening are excluded from this award.

Key facts

Procedure

Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition

Framework agreement

Yes — a framework or dynamic purchasing system, not a single contract

Lots

1

Contact

Charlotte Nancarrow

charlotte.nancarrow@hsdc.ac.uk

Category

goods

Awarded suppliers

• Softcat plc · GB-COH-02174990 · UKJ

Ground given for limiting competition

The buyer’s own stated reason for awarding without open competition, as published. Their assertion, not a finding.

Type of procedure: Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition. Justification (Annex D1 - other justification): call-off under framework agreement Y23065, which was itself advertised and competitively procured under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The College intends to award a call-off contract to Softcat plc for MHR People First and associated services without reopening competition under the Software Products and Associated Services framework, Y23065, established by Kent County Council, trading as Procurement Services, under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Original framework notice: 2023/S 000-024156 Framework award notice: 2024/S 000-007870 The proposed award is made pursuant to regulation 33(8)(a), in accordance with the framework's terms and its published objective conditions for direct award. The College relies on the following conditions: (i) following its own due diligence, the College has identified the supplier offering best value for its requirement (primary condition); (ii) the supplier can deliver within the College's required timescales; and (iii) the services are exclusive to one supplier, as Softcat plc is the only supplier appointed to the framework able to provide MHR People First as a software solution for the College to operate in-house. People First is also available under the framework from Juniper Education, but only as a fully managed payroll service, which does not meet the College's requirement to run HR and payroll in-house. The College's requirements analysis and market review identified MHR People First as meeting its requirement for an integrated HR and native payroll platform with established Further Education delivery experience. Maintaining an integrated architecture supports the College's contractual and pension complexity, payroll continuity and data integrity, while limiting additional interfaces, reconciliation and administration. Softcat plc is an appointed supplier under framework Y23065 and is the only framework supplier able to supply MHR People First as software for the College to operate in-house. Juniper Education offers People First under the framework only as a fully managed payroll service, which does not meet the College's requirement. The College has assessed its offer against the defined requirements, including solution scope, implementation and support arrangements, whole-contract cost, payment terms and delivery timetable. Softcat has confirmed in writing that its framework prices match those issued by MHR, including Softcat's 4% fee, with no further charge added, and the five-year cost through the framework is lower than the alternative routes priced for the same package (direct from MHR and through G-Cloud 15). Pricing through the BOS2 framework, also via Softcat, is identical. Framework prices are fixed for the full term, with no indexation. The College has therefore identified Softcat's offer as providing best value for the required platform and services under the framework's direct-award conditions. Before selecting the framework route, the College carried out a market review of HR and payroll solutions. Eight providers were approached and four solutions were demonstrated. MHR People First was the only solution that met the College's combined requirement for integrated HR and native payroll, multiple concurrent contracts, Teachers' Pension and LGPS reporting, and the full employee lifecycle. This review informed the College's requirement and choice of product. The supplier was then selected under the framework's direct-award conditions, applying the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) basis set out in the framework user guide.