Low Income Benefits Agile Service Design

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done The Social Security Programme within Scottish Government (SG) is charged with taking forward the Scotland Act 2016 powers on devolved benefits. The Programme has been established to provide the governance and structure for delivering the required capabilities. SG requires a Service Provider to develop Low Income benefits (Best Start Grant, Funeral Expense Assistance, and up to two other types of assistance e.g. Job Grant) to initial launch for Social Security to support the delivery of the Scottish Government’s strategy for social security and digital transformation. Problem to Be Solved The Scottish Government, and its social security agency, does not currently have any technology or infrastructure to support the administration of devolved social security benefits. Individuals in Scotland who qualify for the devolved benefits need to be able to make applications for the first wave of benefits to the agency through several channels, and the agency needs to be able to manage those cases effectively, make payments, report on its work and prepare for subsequent waves of benefits. Who Are the Users Users are, primarily, the people applying for and receiving devolved benefits. For Best Start Grant, those are women who are pregnant or people who have recently had or become responsible for a child; for Funeral Expense Assistance, those are people who are responsible for paying for a funeral for someone close to them. Those people need to be able to make applications, receive payments, and know what is happening with their case. Operational staff within the social security agency are another key user group. They need to be able to manage cases efficiently. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done We have already completed a discovery phase, looking at the overall service for social security in its entirety, and two alpha developments - the first focused on a prototype case management system that covered two benefits, and the second on the front-end application process for Best Start Grant, wireframes for the application process for Funeral Expense Assistance, and a review of available platforms for case management, identity management and payment. Existing Team You will be part of a multi-disciplinary team drawing in internal SG resource, led by a Delivery Manager and comprising a number of Product Owners (one for each of the individual benefits - e.g. Best Start Grant and Funeral Expense Assistance - as well as Product Owners for cross-benefit functions such as Fraud). Other internal resources drawn from social security directorate and SG Digital Directorate include technical architects, data specialists, software and infrastructure engineers, user research, business analysis, transformation managers, policy, and operational research. Current Phase Alpha Work Location The team will be required to co-locate and embed with the Chief Digital Office, Digital Ecosystem Unit and Social Security team at Scottish Government's office, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh, and work in Atlantic Quay, Glasgow as required. Working Arrangments Work onsite at Scottish Government offices in Edinburgh with attendance in Glasgow when required. 5 days a week, full-time (9-5), throughout the contract to ensure full immersion in the project and allow for knowledge transfer. Security Clearance All Supplier resources must meet the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and have Basic Disclosure by the start of the contract. Additional T&Cs Additional bespoke Scottish Government Terms and Conditions will apply to this requirement and will be issued at the technical proposal stage to short listed suppliers. Scots Law will apply. New Intellectual Property Rights created by or on behalf of the Service Provider exclusively for the Purchaser as part of the performance by the Service Provider of its obligations under this Contract will belong to the Purchaser. The purchaser will have the right to assign/ novate the contract to another Contracting Authority. Skills & Experience Co-locate with members of the Social Security Directorate and Digital Directorate at SG offices in both Edinburgh and Glasgow for the duration of the contract yes/no Be certified to ISO27001 or equivalent yes/no Provide a brief description of the nature of your business, highlighting core functions, and any areas of specialism and explain their relevance to the delivery of this requirement. (25) Provide specific experience of agile projects (especially in public sector / highly regulated environments) and developing multi-channel services using agile through Discovery, Alpha, Beta and Live deployment. (25) Describe challenges you have experienced when delivering complex service design utilising commodity components and how you overcame them. (15) Provide specific experience of delivering user research to agreed ethics standards when engaging with vulnerable user groups on sensitive issues (10) Provide experience of co-located team working (10) Have demonstrable experience of shared delivery responsibilities and running several development teams in support of the one programme of work (10) Nice to Haves Be familiar with the SG Digital First Service Standard, or relevant assurance process such as GDS’s Digital Service Standard. (5) No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 6 Proposal Criteria Approach to delivering the service Team structure and work history Understanding of the requirement Outline how the solution(s) you deliver will be realised with the system quality attributes outlined in the Statement of Requirements Approach to Alpha Sprint Scenario Approach to user research, engagement and developing user focused services Outline an indicative technical architecture for the service Outline your approach to Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Operational support model Risks, constraints or conflicts of interest and how they will be managed Transition to any new Supplier at the conclusion of the contract. Approach to data management Hosting proposals for the proposed solution Community Benefits Cultural Fit Criteria Continuity of service Fair work practices for workers Approach to working with clients with a mixed (low to high) range of technical expertise or experience of agile Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Work history Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 65% Cultural fit 5% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers Budget range the estimated budget range is between £8m and £12m inclusive of vat, over a 2.5 year period.