NICS ePCS – Lot 2 - Central Government Departments

Project 19901

Background

  1. The Crown Commercial Services (CCS) established a Framework in 2014 for Electronic Purchasing Card Solutions for use by UK Public Bodies.
  2. Central Procurement Directorate awarded the contract to the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) as they were the single supplier for Lot 2 off this Framework.
  3. The Contract, for the list of participating bodies attached at Annex A, was awarded on 08 June 2015 for implementation and transition. The Contract will commence and ‘go live’ on 20 August 2015.
  4. The Initial Contract Period will expire on 19 August 2018, with 2 further annual options to extend.

New Applications

  1. New application requests should be made to the RBS representative.

(see Annex B for details).

  1. If a new administrator (someone who manages all cards within the Department) wishes to be added to the contract, they must first approach the RBS representative to apply or replace the current administrator. Once RBS have approved and issued a card, the Departmental administrator must contact CPD in order for their name to be added to the list of administrators for contract management purposes.

Embossed Cards

  1. The purchasing cards will be embossed with NICS on the front.
  2. If there is a requirement for a specific name to be embossed on the card, this request must come first to CPD who will consider this request on a case by case basis. RBS have been instructed that if any such request is made directly to them, they must refer it back to the CPD manager.

Billing and Invoicing

  1. Each individual organisation will settle their bill with the supplier within 7 days of invoice via a direct debit.

Payment of invoices – will be made by DIRECT DEBIT.

Monthly invoices - will be issued on the 28th of the month.

Settlement Term – 7 Days following statement issue date.

  1. Rebates will be calculated based on the aggregated spend on all cards used in the overall programme (UK Central Government Departments – not just NI), subject to the appropriate 7 day settlement terms.
  2. Use of the card generates a rebate back to your Organisation for every transaction.
  3. Rebates will be paid into individual users bank accounts retrospectively annually to all participating organisations on a strict pro-rata basis.

Management Information

  1. Service providers must provide two electronic reports monthly; one with no VAT and one for evidence for VAT.
  2. Management Information (MI) for each account holder on a monthly basis will be in electronic format or accessible online. This MI will include;
  • Monthly and cumulative turnover per account;
  • Monthly and cumulative transactions per account;
  • Monthly and cumulative no of cards per account;
  • Monthly and cumulative supplier analysis data providing details of total spend/number of transactions per supplier.
  1. This MI should be consolidated on a six monthly basis for the review meetings with analysis against previous 6 or 12 month reporting periods.

Contract Management

  1. CPD will monitor the arrangements with the Contractor on an on-going basis requesting management information on a six monthly basis.
  1. Purchasing Card Administrators from each of the Government Departments will meet with the Service provider every 6 months throughout the lifetime of the contract (if required by the Department) to review the operation of the contract. This meeting will be facilitated by CPD. Any agenda items will be sent from CPD.

Central Procurement Directorate (CPD) – roles and responsibilities

  1. Central Procurement Directorate (CPD), in conjunction with participating bodies, will assess the performance of the Contractor over the period of the Contract to ensure that the service as defined is fully met. Issues which cannot be resolved by the Department should be escalated to CPD who will seek resolution from the Contractor.
  1. CPD will be responsible for varying the contract with the service provider if applicable.

Best Practice

  1. There is no current policy within the NICS on the use of Electronic Purchasing Card, however attached is a Pan-Government Procurement Card Central Usage Policy (Annex C).

Annex A – List of Participating Bodies

The Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) which covers the central Departments can be found at

There may be a time when some Departments will merge or no longer exist, in which case the service provider must ensure that all NI Government Departments are included and have appropriate access to the EPCS.

Annex B - Contact Points

Name & Organisation / Area of Responsibility / Contact email / Phone Number
Royal Bank of Scotland
*Cardholder and Administrator Use*
Card Centre Customer Service / *Cardholder use*
Lost & stolen cards, Unknown / unrecognisable transactions. / 0870 909 3702
*Administrator Use Only*
RBS
Derek Redding / Implementation Manager / / 01225 852885 /
07767 354479
RBS
Steve Pratt / Account Manager – Overall responsibility for NICS Contract / / 07825 907440
RBS
Chris Seery / **For administrator use only
Card Account Manager / / 07799 342 909
Ulster Bank
Valerie Lang / **For administrator use only
Card Account Manager / / 00353 879152838
Val’s role is to act as the 1st point of call and is someone on the ground that can react to any service issues Northern Ireland Government may have. Chris will support her and act as an escalation route should that be necessary. Chris will also have overall Governance of NI’s programme and together they will look to create efficiencies.
RBS would not expect any cardholders to contact Val or Chris, that would be the programme administrators.
Name & Organisation / Area of Responsibility / Contact email / Phone Number
Central Procurement Directorate
Clare Foley
CPD / Contract Manager / / 02890 816338
Gareth Rennix
CPD / Purchasing Manager – Professional Services & Banking / / 02890 816315
Department / Administrator / Contact email / Phone Number
Central Government Departments
*Administrators*
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (DARD) / Mervyn McCleery / / 02890 524061
Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL) / Paul Walker / / 02890 515078
Deborah Walker / / 02890 515064
Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) / Fergus McSherry / / 02890 257651
Jimmy Connor / / 02890 257647
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment (DETI) / Robert Patterson / / 02890 529354
Department for Regional Development (DRD) / Ian Bowers / / 02890 540460
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) / Maureen Camplisson / / 02890 522367
Elaine Cunningham / / 02890 765648
Department of Justice (DOJ) / Lindsay Peel / / 02890 412771
Glynis Brown /
Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister (OFMDFM) / Paul Wyeth / / 02890 528478
Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) / Gary Barclay / / 02891 858077
Seanin Ferguson / / 02891 858169
Department of the Environment (DOE) / Briege Lafferty / / 02870 341481
Christine Ardis / / 02870 341203
Department of Education (DE) / Shirley McCullough / / 02891 279993
Department for Social Development (DSD) / Deborah Crudden / / 02890 829 534

Annex C – Pan-Government Procurement Card Central Usage Policy

This Annex is available as a separate download.