Capita's Northern Ireland School IT Deal Swells To Over Half A Billion After Fujitsu Exit

A public body in Northern Ireland has granted Capita £208 million in additional contracts and extensions without competition after ditching a £485 million Fujitsu deal last November.

The latest agreements from Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI) could take the value awarded to Capita from £170 million in 2012 to potentially £754 million until 2027. Of that potential £754 million in contracts, The Reg estimates about £583 million in value may have been dished out to the outsourcing giant without market competition.

The most recent deal for LAN and WAN support specifically mentions that the total value of the entire contract between Capita and EANI equates to £546 million. However, it does not say whether this accounts for a £175 million service award or the £33 million modifications. Another notice back in 2024 also said the total value was £546 million, which suggests the latest two agreements are in addition to this, bringing the total value of the contract to around £754 million by 2027.

According to publicly available information, only the original £170 million award in 2012 was won after a competitive tender, meaning contracts to the value of £583 million may have been awarded without competition.

A timeline

• 2012: The outsourcing provider won a five-year contract in 2012 for £170 million.
• 2017: In February of this year, £50 million was added for a two-year extension.
• 2019: Another three years were added in 2019 without competition.
• 2022: Further modifications added two years without competition in March of this year. 2024: In February 2024, £33 million was added without external competition for another one-year extension.
• 2024: £546 million is given as the total value of the contract in February 2024, before the 2025 £33 million LAN/WAN deals or the £175 million tech support and outsourcing deals were added.
• 2025: The most recent arrangement for LAN and WAN support mentions that the total value of the contract after the £33 million modifications equates to £546 million. However, it does not say whether this accounts for the £175 million service award.

Potentially, the total contract valued could be £754 million, depending on which publicly available figures are to be believed. Either way, this represents a substantial increase from the original £170 million undertaking, and EANI appears to have handed hundreds of millions of pounds to Capita without competition.

• Northern Ireland schools ditch £485M Fujitsu deal after less than a year
• Fujitsu wins spot on £600M framework after vowing to sit out public sector
• UK.gov to chuck up to £5B to gang of back office software vendors
• Capita wins uncontested extension to mega millions Northern Ireland Education contract

The Register asked EANI to comment.

The service contract notice says EANI plans a new procurement for an alternative provider to Capita. It expects 18-24 months will be needed to "procure and transition to a suitable new contract." After 13 years with Capita, we're sure that will fly by. ®