Funnel software public sector procurement Scotland & NI: evidence

What to take away

What Scottish and Northern Irish buyers ask a funnel software supplier

A devolved public body buying funnel software is not buying a website. It is buying a hosted service that will hold citizen data, appear under a public brand and be audited. The questions follow from that.

Scottish buyers usually start with the technical answer: where is the data hosted, who can access it, how are forms and landing pages published, and what happens when the contract ends. Northern Irish buyers add a cross-border dimension, because some bodies work with counterparts in the Republic of Ireland and want to know where personal data travels.

Both sets of buyers ask for the same commercial proofs. You will be asked for employer's liability insurance, professional indemnity cover, two or three years of filed accounts, and a named person accountable for the service. Companies House filings and HMRC tax status are checked, not taken on trust.

Accessibility is not a nice-to-have in this market. The Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018 set accessibility requirements for public-sector websites and apps, and your funnel software sits inside that obligation. If your form builder cannot produce labelled fields, keyboard-operable steps and readable error messages, you will fail the technical question.

Data protection answers are marked, not skimmed. UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 apply, and PECR governs any marketing email or cookie your tool enables. Buyers expect a data processing agreement, a retention schedule and a lawful basis for each processing activity.

References matter more than feature lists. A Scottish council or a Northern Irish trust will contact your referees. Two references from comparable public bodies carry more weight than a page of logos from private brands.

Price is scored, but it rarely decides alone. Most evaluations split quality and price, and a weak quality answer cannot be rescued by a low bid. That is why the evidence pack, not the pricing sheet, is where bids are won.

Public Contracts Scotland and the evidence it expects

Public Contracts Scotland is the national advertising portal for Scottish public sector contracts. Most opportunities below the threshold where the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations apply are advertised there, and suppliers register once to receive notices and submit responses.

Two sets of Scottish procurement threshold values decide which rules apply. Under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, a public contract other than a public works contract is covered from £50,000 (ex VAT). Under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, for procurement exercises that commence from 1 January 2026, the supplies and services threshold is £135,018 for bodies listed in Schedule 1 and £207,720 for all other bodies, or indicatively £112,515 and £173,100 excluding 20% VAT.

Registration is free, but it is not the work. The work is the supplier profile and the evidence you attach to it. Buyers can see your profile before they open your bid, so treat it as a standing submission.

The portal also hosts quick quotes for low-value buys. These are lighter, but the same core documents are asked for, and a missing certificate can remove you before anyone reads your proposal.

One practical point: Public Contracts Scotland notices often carry short response windows for quick quotes. If your evidence pack is not already assembled, you will miss them. Keep a current folder with every certificate, policy and reference in PDF.

When you are assembling the commercial side of the pack, the discipline that applies to any software deal applies here too. Read the terms you are being asked to accept, as set out in software contract checks, before you commit to a public body's standard conditions.

Framework routes and supplier evidence

Scottish Government frameworks are national agreements that a single supplier or a small group of suppliers holds for a defined period. Once you are on a framework, public bodies can call off without running a full competition.

The trade-off is clear. Getting on a framework takes a long, evidence-heavy application. Once you are on it, the route to revenue shortens considerably, because call-offs are quicker and the selection questions are already answered.

Frameworks change submissions in four ways.

First, the selection stage is done once. You answer the framework's financial, technical and data protection questions at application, and call-offs usually reuse those answers. Your evidence must therefore be current for the whole framework term, often three or four years.

Second, the specification is fixed in advance. You are not writing to a single buyer's wish list. You are proving you meet the framework's service definition, which may include hosting in the UK, named service levels and a published roadmap.

Third, pricing is agreed at framework level. Call-off competition then happens on quality, volume or a mini-competition among framework holders. A low headline price is less useful than a defensible rate card.

Fourth, social value and fair work questions are built in. Scottish frameworks increasingly ask about fair work practices, payment of the real Living Wage and community benefits. These are scored, so prepare evidence, not statements of intent.

If you are new to frameworks, treat the application as a product exercise. Decide what you can genuinely evidence for four years, then apply. Promising a feature you have not built will come back at the first call-off audit.

There is a selection lesson here that applies beyond procurement. Choose the frameworks, portals and channels where you can clear the entry gates outright, rather than chasing a high score in a process you cannot satisfy. The same logic is set out in supplier selection gates.

eTendersNI and Northern Ireland bid evidence

eTendersNI is the electronic tendering portal used by Northern Ireland public bodies. It advertises opportunities, hosts tender documents and takes electronic submissions. Registration is free and open to suppliers from anywhere in the UK.

Northern Ireland procurement is governed by its own regulations, including the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 for covered public contracts. The practical differences matter. Northern Ireland Public Procurement Policy (NIPPP) is approved by the Northern Ireland Executive and is mandatory for central government departments, non-departmental public bodies and public corporations, and departments must use eTendersNI. Notices on eTendersNI may reference the UK-wide Find a Tender service as well, so check both when you are tracking a buyer.

Central government buying in Northern Ireland is often routed through framework agreements let by the Northern Ireland Civil Service or by UK-wide framework providers. One UK-wide example to investigate is Crown Commercial Service's G-Cloud framework; check its current scope and supplier application status before treating it as a route. A supplier already on a suitable framework may find a shorter route into Northern Irish bodies than a supplier starting from scratch.

Cross-border working is a real feature across Scotland and Northern Ireland. Some Northern Irish bodies collaborate with counterparts in the Republic of Ireland, and some contracts cover both jurisdictions. If your funnel software hosts data, be ready to explain where that data sits and how you handle transfers.

Accessibility and data protection expectations mirror the rest of the UK, but the evidence is often requested in a specific format. Expect a separate accessibility statement, a completed security questionnaire and a named data protection contact.

eTendersNI submissions are usually electronic only, with documents uploaded before a stated deadline. Late uploads are rejected, and portal downtime is not accepted as an excuse. Submit a day early.

For Northern Irish bids, the reference question is often weighted heavily. A reference from a health trust, a council or an arm's length body carries weight that a private sector logo does not. Ask referees for permission before you name them.

Procurement in the national interest as policy context

The policy backdrop for both jurisdictions is set out in Procurement in the national interest - GOV.UK. It sets the direction for public buying across the UK, including how social value, resilience and UK-based capability are weighed.

For a funnel software supplier, the practical effect is more questions about where your service runs and who delivers it. Expect to describe your hosting region, your subprocessors and the location of your support team.

Resilience questions are also more common. Buyers want to know what happens if your company fails, if a subprocessor withdraws or if a cyber incident occurs. An exit plan with data export and deletion is now a scored answer, not an appendix.

Social value is scored in most Scottish and Northern Irish competitions. Typical asks include apprenticeships, support for local suppliers, environmental reporting and community engagement. Vague promises score poorly; named commitments with numbers score well.

Small and medium suppliers are not shut out. Both jurisdictions run lower-value routes and quick quotes designed to be accessible, and the policy direction favours opening work to smaller providers. The barrier is evidence, not size.

One caution: policy language changes faster than contracts. Read the current policy, then check the individual tender for how it has been translated into questions. Answer the tender, not the policy headline.

A supplier evidence checklist for Scotland and Northern Ireland

Use this checklist as a standing document. Refresh it quarterly, and before any framework application.

Add these supporting records to the evidence pack:

Two further checks are worth adding for this market. First, confirm your product meets the standard public bodies are assessed against, the Service Standard - Service Manual - GOV.UK, because evaluation panels often use it as their benchmark.

Second, keep your own supplier records as clean as the ones you ask buyers to accept, which is the same discipline described in supplier due diligence.

A worked example shows how the pieces fit. Suppose a Scottish council advertises a three-year funnel software contract at 40,000 pounds a year on Public Contracts Scotland. You register, download the documents and find a single-stage process with a quality and price split. The annual figure alone does not determine the procurement route: the buyer assesses the estimated total contract value against the applicable rules and threshold.

You answer the financial questions from filed accounts, attach insurance certificates and provide your ICO registration. You answer the technical questions with your hosting region, subprocessor list and security questionnaire. You provide two council references and an accessibility statement.

You score well on quality because your answers are specific, and you are competitive on price because your rate card is honest. The same evidence pack then supports a call-off under a Scottish Government framework, a bid on eTendersNI and a pitch to a health trust in Northern Ireland.

One last habit: keep a manual record of what you submitted and when. A written record of your own answers, as described in keeping a manual baseline, makes it obvious when a policy or certificate changes and your pack needs updating.

Common questions