Duo of huge Whitehall ministries have each awarded supplier contracts to run throughout 2025 and 2026, and potentially beyond, to cover the provision of cyber software and various support services

Two of government’s largest departments have each signed contracts worth about £8m for the provision of security products and services.

On 2 December, the Ministry of Justice will enter into an initial two-year deal for “security support services”. The contract – which is valued at about £7.6m, once VAT is included – was awarded to Sussex-based public sector-focused specialist Arculus Cyber Security, which was bought by fellow UK cyber firm Bridwell earlier this year.

Over the coming 24 months, Arculus has been retained by the MoJ for the “provision of security services including architecture, design, assurance, risk management and consultancy services”.

The agreement can be extended for a further 12 months, which would take its ultimate conclusion to 1 December 2027.

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HM Revenue and Customs, meanwhile, is to enter into a three-year engagement with BT on 1 April 2025. The deal represents an “IT networks security software licence agreement”.

Once tax is included, about £8.4m will be spent via the arrangement between next year and 31 March 2028, when the contract concludes.

Between them, the MoJ and HMRC contracts add up to a collective value of about £16m.

The duo are two of the largest departments in Whitehall, and the MoJ – once all its agencies are included – is the biggest of all, with about 90,000 staff in total. HMRC, meanwhile, employs about 65,000 people – the vast majority of which are based in its core department.

In line with its size, the tax agency is engaged in some major programmes to improve its security posture and data protection. This includes the Technical Health Programme, a £500m initiative – formed from the merger of two major projects – dedicated to tackling legacy tech and boosting cyber resilience.