My Ofsted Registration

Tender description

Summary of the work Ofsted requires a supplier to build an application & registration system for childcare and social care professionals. The supplier will work though Alpha/Beta with an option to terminate at the end of Alpha and an option to extend to integration/live/support and maintenance during early 2018. Expected Contract Length I year, with option to extend for another year if required. Latest start date We anticipate the contract start date to be the week commencing the 3rd of April 2017. Budget Range Indicative budget range for alpha: 100-150k. Indicative budget range for beta: 150-250k. All costs ex VAT. It is important that we offer excellent value for money on this project. Beta will only proceed after a satisfactory Alpha phase, Ofsted reserves the right not to continue the contract after the Alpha phase. Why the Work is Being Done Our current system, Ofsted Online, https://online.ofsted.gov.uk/onlineofsted/Default.aspx is a set of forms and linked processes for people to apply to register with us to look after children, to update and pay for their registrations and to communicate on an ongoing basis about issues relating to their registration. The current system does not meet external user needs which leads to high volumes of users contacting Ofsted for help. We need to build a new system on gov.uk which meets user needs, is accessible on mobile and tablet, and meets the needs of users with accessibility needs or lower digital confidence. Problem to Be Solved Improve accessibility for mobile/tablet users,users with disabilities,users with low digital confidence,simplify language and navigation,increase applications that are correctly filed, increase the number of people using direct debit as their payment method and reduce contact to Ofsted from people who need help relating to Ofsted Registration and related processes including DBS checks. We expect to build one system for both social care and childcare users,but develop two front ends, as these are two distinct groups with different user needs. We want to build using open source methods and to take over some maintenance and development in-house from April 2019. Who Are the Users People who provide childcare e.g. childminders, some nannies, nursery managers. People who provide social care for children e.g. fostering agency and children's home staff. Adult family members of childminders who live with the childminders. Early Market Engagement There will be a webinar for supplier who are interested in hearing more about this requirement. The session will be held at 10.00am on 01/02/17. If you are interested in participating, please e-mail info-contracts@ofsted.gov.uk prior to the close of play on the 31/01/17 and further details will be provided. Please include My Ofsted Registration in the title of your e-mail. Work Already Done In 2016 we ran a 3 month discovery with childcare, social care and internal users and now have a good basis to proceed to alpha. As at 17/1 we have a set of epics and user stories, an alpha backlog, and clear project scope. By the time of contract award we expect to have developed and tested on users some wireframes. Separately, GDS has prototyped a new set of gov.uk design patterns for 'prepare to apply' / 'check if you're eligible' user journeys. Existing Team In-house: 1x service manager, 2x product managers, 1x content designer, 0.5 project manager. External: ongoing service design, interaction design and user research support from a single service design agency who ran our discovery phase for this project. Current Phase Alpha Skills & Experience • Experience of successfully delivering alpha-live builds according to GDS service standards. Please e-mail info-contracts@ofsted.gov.uk to request a case study template, completed templates should be returned to Ofsted by cop 09/02/17. • Experience of effective rapid, low-cost prototyping. • Strong detailed knowledge of GDS service standards gained from applying them to a project. • Experience of working with systems using personal data. Please e-mail info-contracts@ofsted.gov.uk to request a case study template, completed templates should be returned to Ofsted by cop 09/02/17. • Experience of successfully working in a multi-supplier environment and of effective working practices to support multi-supplier collaboration. • Strong, dedicated, continuous project and account management. • Experience of delivering live critical systems. • Ability to increase or decrease development and design resource as needed to account for peaks and troughs in the project. • Ability to rapidly make changes throughout alpha to respond to ongoing user testing and feedback. Nice to Haves • Experience of working with systems which utilise DBS (criminal records) checks, cross-government components for ID assurance (e.g. Verify, Gateway) or payment. • Experience (i.e. participation) in GDS service assessment. Confidence to present internally to senior stakeholders as part of a team. • Experience or detailed knowledge of GDS service assessment. • Experience of projects utilising GDS design patterns. Work Location Aviation House, Kingsway, Holborn, London. Working Arrangments We want the successful supplier to be co-located with the London team at key build phases e.g. 2-3 days a week, depending on supplier location, with details to be confirmed during the contract award. Ofsted are based in Aviation House, Kingsway, Holborn, London. Security Clearance BPSS is require from the contract start date, full DBS checks may be required on staff who have access to sensitive data. This will be confirmed as and when it is required. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Technical solution 20% • Approach and methodology 15% • How the approach or solution meets user needs 15% • How the approach or solution meets your organisation’s policy or goal 10% • How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them 5% • Team structure 5% Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers 5%. • Share knowledge and experience with other team members 5%. Payment Approach Time and materials Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Can the work be done remotely? Not completely. We want the successful supplier to be co-located with the London team at key build phases e.g. 2-3 days a week, depending on supplier location, with the exact number of days to be confirmed during the contract award. 2. Is the supplier who conducted the discovery phase tendering for this phase? We have not confirmed this with the supplier. 3. You've mentioned two case study templates that need to be completed and returned by the 9th of Feb. Is this all you are expecting by the 9th? We would like suppliers to complete the process in the usual way, however we'd also like all interested suppliers to request and return a case study template for two of the skill and experience we've listed. These are: Experience of successfully delivering alpha-live builds according to GDS service standards.Experience of working with systems using personal data. The supplier case studies will be used by Ofsted to shortlist to 5 suppliers. Ofsted will move forward with these suppliers, providing the main specification, as part of the next stage of the evaluation. 4. How do we submit the our completed case study templates please? is there a way to attached them to the application or do they need to be emailed to info-contracts@ofsted.gov.uk? Please send the completed sheet to info-contracts@ofsted.gov.uk by close of play on the 9th of February. 5. Is it your intention to invite the supplier who conducted the discovery phase to tender? Any supplier on the framework is free to participate in the process. 6. Are you expecting the case studies to be sent as separate attachments, or put into the spreadsheet cells – 350 words per cell? Please use the excel sheets that were sent to you, using up to 350 words in the relevant cell(s). 7. Are you expecting 3 ,or 6 case studies? You can supply up to 3 case studies for each skill, a maximum of 6 case studies in total. Scores will be allocated for each case study that is submitted.Scores will be given on the following basis:0 Not met or no evidence1 Partially met2 Met3 ExceededThe maximum score for a supplier that submits 3 case studies for both skills, where each case study meets the exceeded level would be 18. 8. The usual process involves the suppliers sending an evidence template in round 2 after completing the 'yes/no' round 1 of the process. The only difference here is that we will be filling in the case study template as well while completing round 1. We'd like to know if you want us to finish the evidence template for the essential and nice to have skills as well and send it on 9th Feb or wait until you announce the date for the 2nd round where we usually fill and send the evidence template for the essential and nice to have skills. We would like you to complete the process in the usual way, completing and returning the standard evidence template. We are also asking you to complete and return a case study template in addition to this. We are trying to be proactive and anticipate that shortlisting to 5 suppliers will not be able to be completed using the evidence template alone. 9. At what level of data security does this requirement need to operate at given the sensitivity of some info (eg incidents) For users, a DBS check is mandatory for access to some parts of the service. The solution shall be secured in terms of Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability to a level commensurate with the impact level of the data it holds and processes; be compliant with HMG Security Policy Framework (SPF) and relevant legislation such as the Data Protection Act, and take account of the CESG Good Practice Guides for secure delivery of Online Public Services. It is anticipated the New Online Ofsted would need to comply with the IL2 accreditation requirement of the CESG scheme. 10. As you are recording the webinar, will this be available so it can be re-listened to later. The webinar recording and presentation are available at https://vimeo.com/202039291 (password: Ofsted123) 11. Point 3 of the GDS service standard is "Have multi disciplinary team". Are you looking for dev capabilities only since you already have a PM/PD, PO & UR? We expect shortlisted suppliers to quote on the basis of providing a scrum lead/delivery manager, design, and development work. We also need strong and continuous account and project management on your side as our project manager is focused on internal PM, finance etc. 12. What are the Security requirements around this solution? e.g. Sensitivity/classification of data, Clearance level of supplier staff (BPSS/SC required?) Project team members will be required to have at least BPSS clearance. More detail on team assumptions will be in the detailed invitation to quote. 13. Do you have a view yet on whether the payments solution will be bespoke integration with WorldPay or do you expect to use gov.uk Pay? We use Worldpay currently. The payment solution has yet to be decided, and we are appraising options at the moment, although in general our preference would be to use common Government platforms if possible. 14. The ‘Digital Marketplace’ description of this opportunity mentions that Ofsted ‘…wants to build using open source methods’. Does Ofsted have a preference for a particular Open Source technology stack (e.g. that would be simplest for Ofsted to maintain in-house in the future) or are bidders free to propose the technology stack that they feel is most appropriate? Bidders are free to propose open source technology stacks. 15. Can you confirm what suppliers need to complete to submit a proposal We would like you to complete the process in the usual way, completing and returning the standard evidence template. We are also asking you to complete and return a case study template in addition to this. We are trying to be proactive and anticipate that shortlisting to 5 suppliers will not be able to be completed using the evidence template alone. 16. Will shortisted suppliers be asked to present to the team We expect to include face to face clarification sessions, as part of the evaluation process for the shortlisted suppliers. 17. How do you anticipate the prototyping and research element of the project working? Will the supplier be working with a user research team from another agency, or be providing this full skill set? We anticipate that our ongoing supplier Livework will provide user research throughout alpha. However, we understand that working closely with research is essential for good design and a successful alpha. We will specify our assumptions in more detail to shortlisted suppliers. 18. Do you have a technology platform on which to build the new digital service? Is there a technology choice already made or will this project select key technology? For alpha, we are looking for HTML prototypes or other rapid prototyping. For beta we have not selected technology. Our strong preference is to build on gov.uk and for open-source, non-proprietary platforms that can either be ported to other suppliers or be maintained and developed by an in-house development team from 2019. Proprietary platforms will be considered if a case can made for significant ROI. 19. Once you are through Alpha, do you require a system that is 100% open source bespoke software development, or might you also consider a combination of open source code and one (or more) established, highly configurable, COTS/SaaS solutions that may be able to deliver many of the requirements "out of the box"? For alpha, we are looking for HTML prototypes or other rapid prototyping. For beta we have not selected technology. Our strong preference is to build on gov.uk and for open-source, non-proprietary platforms that can either be ported to other suppliers or be maintained and developed by an in-house development team from 2019. Proprietary platforms will be considered if a case can made for significant ROI. 20. Do you expect the alpha phase to identify the target deployment platform or do you already have a view on that e.g. an existing in-house platform, something new, gov.uk PaaS, or other? The Alpha phase is about validating the outputs of the discovery phase through HTML prototypes and some lightweight prototyping of several end to end user journeys. From Beta onwards, the service will live on GOV.UK, adhering to the Government Service Design Manual and Service Standard. 21. Do you envision the prototypes to integrate with the existing live system? Alpha HTML prototypes need to integrate with some existing systems (e.g. payment, DBS) only to demonstrate a few, lightweight, end to end user journeys to validate discovery outputs and pass GDS alpha assessment. We expect most journeys only to require front end HTML prototyping.We are not looking for full integration with existing systems or with the current Ofsted Online front end. 22. You mention wanting to take over some maintenance and development in-house from April 2019. Does your team have any technology preference? For Alpha, we are looking for HTML prototypes. For Beta our strong preference is for open-source, non-proprietary platforms that can be maintained and developed by an in-house development team from 2019. 23. Do you have a view on whether the supplier team needs to be co-located with Ofsted or can work remotely? We are open to semi-remote engagement, but need the core team to be co-located at key periods during the build e.g. sprint planning, retrospective review of user research, lab testing. 24. Please could you confirm the name of your Discovery partner? Our Discovery partner was LiveWork. We have engaged LiveWork as user research partner for the Alpha stage. 25. Can you confirm what platform the new service will be hosted on please? Not yet specified. Open to hosting options although onward portability is important. 26. For context, please can Ofsted provide an indication of the number of users and number of transactions per annum that the service must support? Our contact centre, receives 40,000 calls and emails a month. Ofsted Online receives 10,000 to 15,000 page impressions a month. Channel shift from email and phone calls to use of the new service is an important objective. 27. Are the certificates in any way 'specialised'? (i.e hologramed, foiled, embossed) or are they just colour personalised, printed and mailed? Certificates are embossed but this is unlikely to form part of end-end user journeys for alpha. 28. Are you planning to use the GovUK Toolkit for the prototypes? That is an option but suppliers are free to suggest other rapid prototyping methods. GDS kit available at https://github.com/alphagov/govuk_prototype_kit 29. Could you explain more about the Tracking epic to help me understand the level of tracking you are talking about. Is it simply tracking the application process or is there more to it? It is principally about tracking an application to Ofsted to register. This has many parts and dependencies which reflect the complex process and structure of registration. These include pre-application requirements (IDassurance,criminal records checking) all of which involves separate organisations,databases and systems. Linked applications can have multiple registrations that are required for different applicants,or for discrete responsibilities held by one applicant,or for other people linked to the applicant who are required to undergo criminal records checks because they are resident in the place where children are being cared for. We intend to validate out assumptions about the tracking epic in Alpha. 30. In order to best understand the requirement, is Ofsted able to make any of the findings from the Discovery phase available to bidders (e.g. particularly the Product Backlog and description of the Minimum Viable Product)? If you are not able to make the Backlog itself available, please could you confirm the number of Epics and User Stories that have been specified so far? Yes, but after shortlisting of suppliers. 31. Is mentoring (eg agile) a big part of specification? Yes. Use of agile is essential to pass point 4 of the Government's Digital Service Standard (https://www.gov.uk/service-manual/agile-delivery/agile-government-services-introduction). We are required to use, and evidence use of, agile throughout the project, and your development team should include an experienced scrum person / delivery manager. The project team is experienced in agile methodology. The wider organisation is exploring agile and so internal engagement, including in agile process, will be valuable. 32. Is there existing research on accessibility issues and has any research been carried out with assisted digital users? No. During alpha we will identify % of users with assisted digital or accessibility needs and carry out research with them. 33. Do you have a delivery timeline for Alpha, Beta and Live? Alpha to finish by 31/7/17/. Beta timescales are subject to change as they are dependent on alpha progress + results of GDS service assessment + results of current options appraisal on ID assurance modules, but beta build expected to start 1/9/17 and finish by 31/12. Current assumptions are that we will be in private beta by 31/12, period of public beta Feb-March 18 with switchover / full go live by 31/3/18 at the latest. 34. Your slides mention that you receive about 100 "serious notifications", can you provide more context around what these are please? A serious notification is a report to Ofsted of any incident which involves potential or actual danger to a child in social care.