Energy-efficiency consultancy services

Tender description

The City of Edinburgh Council (the Council) intends to develop an Energy Advice Service for tenants situated across the city of Edinburgh. This purpose of this PIN is to assess the number of suitable suppliers who would be interested in tendering for such an opportunity should the Council decide to appoint an external service provider to deliver the service. It is envisaged that any contract resultant from this process will be let for a period of 18 months commencing in January 2018. Prior Information Notice (PIN) — The City of Edinburgh Council (the Council) intends to develop an Energy Advice Service for tenants situated across the city of Edinburgh. This purpose of this PIN is to assess the number of suitable suppliers who may be interested in tendering for such an opportunity should the Council decide to appoint an external service provider to deliver the service. It is envisaged that any contract resultant of this process will be let for a period of 18 months commencing in January 2018. Requirement — As it currently stands 29 % of social housing tenants are regarded as living in fuel poverty. Fuel poverty can be attributed to a number of factors, most notably a combination of low incomes and high fuel costs, coupled with poor energy efficiency. Whilst the Council is dedicated to investing in the energy efficiency of its homes evidence has shown that in order to maximise the benefits of these savings tenants need extra support. The aim of an energy advice service is to offer support to tenants in order to reduce the impact of these factors and consequently help lift them out of fuel poverty. During the annual budget consultation one in 3 tenants stated their support to introduce a new service aimed at providing energy advice. A pilot project would look at a team of advisors engaging with between 1 000 - 2 000 tenants over a 12 month period, with lead in times to embed the service and then evaluate the pilot's effectiveness. The Energy Advice Service seeks to provide face-to-face advice and support to tenants on a range of energy-related issues, which would include, but not be limited to: — Energy bills, debt and tariffs; — Advocacy with utility companies and the Ombudsman in complex cases; — Accessing discounts and grants, such as the Warm Home Discount; — An assessment of energy use in the home; — Dampness and condensation; — Signposting and referral to other support services where a need is identified. It is essential that the Energy Advice Service works closely with Council staff and integrates with locality structures. Advisors will be expected to pro-actively engage the local community and meet with groups such as sheltered housing, attend appointments at tenants home as well as attending community events. Advisors would be based in the Council's local offices. Advisors would also provide coaching support to housing officers to help them identify and signpost tenants in need of advice. Expressions of Interest — Following your consideration of the requirement please email Caroline de Jonge at caroline.dejonge@edinburgh.gov.uk to advise whether this potential opportunity may be something that you would be interested in tendering for by 12:00 noon on Friday 21.4.2017. Expressions of Interest received after this date/time will not be considered. Questions — Questions relating to any aspect of this PIN must be sent via the Public Contracts Scotland portal at http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk Questions received through any other channel will not be answered. The closing date/time for questions is 12:00 noon on 3.4.2017. Questions received after this date/time will not be accepted or answered. In order to ensure equal treatment of interested parties, the Council intends to publish questions raised together with the Council's responses (but not the source of the questions) to all interested parties on the Public Contracts Scotland portal. Questions that identify the source of the question will be rejected. Each question must be raised separately. Single requests that contain multiple questions will be rejected. Council Requests for Further Information — the Council may, at its discretion, approach organisations which expressed an interest (by emailing caroline.dejonge@edinburgh.gov.uk) to seek further information.