Newham Digital Services - Alpha and Beta Phases

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done Our aspiration is to pioneer change by creating a resilient council and community that shapes Newham as a place where people choose to live, work and stay. We are transforming the way we work to be more effective, commercial, innovative and pioneering in how we deliver the services our residents say matter most to them. Our vision is for services to be Digital by Default with an emphasis on end-to-end processes; while saving money and improving the user experience. We require a specialist team to work with us on the Alpha and Beta phases. Problem to Be Solved While many transactions have been moved online, the user experience is fragmented and often confusing, relying on inefficient, manual intervention for a number of transactions. There is an opportunity to make savings by improving the user experience in the broadest sense and to develop an evidenced based digital roadmap to deliver digital tools that meet user needs and support organisational goals for the future. Who Are the Users At a high level the users are Newham residents, partners, businesses and other organisations. Within the council the users are those who commission services. Newham Council provides a range of services to users including adult and children health and social care, advice and benefits, housing, community and living, environment and planning, education and learning, jobs and careers, leisure and culture, transport and streets. A more complete list is available on the Council website www.newham.gov.uk. Early Market Engagement We have spoken with other councils and suppliers. This has helped shape our thinking and approach to the market. Key recommendations and considerations: (1) Establish an internal digital services team; (2) Ensure customers are represented at each point in the process; (3) Ensure ICT are integrated into this function through matrix management arrangements and governance – by adopting a one team approach; (4) Ensure Agile methodologies are used with controls with clearly defined deliverables and quality criteria, e.g. establish robust checkpoints to assess whether an off-the-shelf solution already exists to speed up deployment and not waste time and resource developing new solutions; (5) Ensure integration and application costs are budgeted for; (6) Recognise that one-off specialist skills will always be required from external sources, as it’s more cost effective than having these as permanent members of staff; (7) Ensure contracts are flexible to release external resources with minimal penalties. Work Already Done We have run Discoveries on a selection of the Council’s customer interactions to identify where that experience can be improved and savings made. The key goal of Discovery was to gain a detailed understanding of user needs and how well they are currently being met by existing services. The programme has, to date, developed four new digital offers for the following services: homelessness online, housing register applications, the housing account and repairs and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Local Offer. We are currently running Alphas on homelessness online and the Local Offer alongside Discoveries on seven additional services. Existing Team The supplier will work with blended, multi-discipline in-house Newham teams and people, including Service Managers, Product Managers, Business Analysts, Solution Architects, Project Managers, Delivery Managers and Service users. There may be instances where the supplier will need to work with other Newham suppliers. Current Phase Discovery Work Location London Borough of Newham, Newham Dockside, 1000 Dockside Road, London, E16 2QU. The team will also be required to work from other Council buildings within the borough. Working Arrangments Monday to Friday on site. A professional working day, hours and working pattern as needed to deliver the service in an efficient way. Mainly based from our office in Dockside, London. Security Clearance Additional T&Cs The Council's vision is to build an internal experienced digital services team. The contract will be flexible so resources can be released as Newham recruits digital professionals for the posts. Skills & Experience Demonstrable experience of delivering successful Alpha and Beta outcomes to support complex digital transformation in a large scale service delivery organisation - 5 points Demonstrable experience of delivering large scale savings through digital transformation projects in tight time frames - 5 points Demonstrable experience of delivering multiple quick-wins and actionable roadmaps through the Alpha and Beta phases - 5 points Full understanding and demonstrable experience of research methodologies and data collection techniques for complex, high volume, citizen-facing, transactional services - 5 points An example of deploying an effective team to hit the ground running at the required date and delivering to the original plan - 3 points Demonstrable experience of working with users and stakeholders at all levels in complex political environments - 2 points Demonstrable experience of carrying out research with a diverse mix of users including those with low digital literacy and assisted digital needs - 2 points Demonstrable experience of knowledge sharing and skills transfer with in-house teams so as to build sustainable capability - 4 points Demonstrable experience of building on and maximising existing architecture and integrating it with new solutions as part of Alpha and Betas - 3 points Proven ability to lead and coach public sector organisations through the digital transformation process aligned with the Digital by Default standard - 2 points Demonstrable experience of leading on further Discoveries alongside Alpha and Beta projects if required - 2 points Example of running concurrent Alpha and Betas at pace across complex services - 5 points Able to continue work on existing Discovery/Alpha strands - keeping empathy, context and momentum within the team - 5 points To be able to commence work on 20th April 2017 - 3 points Demonstrable experience of delivering new innovative solutions to increase levels of digital literacy - 2 points Demonstrable experience of successfully delivering full end-to-end service design from Discovery to Live - 5 points Demonstrable experience of increasing digital inclusion - 2 points Demonstrable experience of using the outputs of Discovery, Alpha and Beta to set the appropriate scope of delivery and savings for each of the next stages - 3 points Nice to Haves Previous experience in a public sector transformation programme - 1 point Strong experience of delivering projects in-line with the Government Digital Service’s Design Principles and Digital Service Standard - 1 point Demonstrable experience of research methodologies: ethnography, open and closed card sorting, multivariate testing - 1 point Strong understanding of the approach other local authorities are taking with digital and of the benefits this provides - 1 point No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 6 Proposal Criteria Approach and methodology - 2 points A plan that sets out the overall timescales - 2 points Approach to knowledge transfer - 2 points Team structure - 2 points Value for money - 2 points Critical success factors - 2 points Top level risks and assumptions - 2 points Cultural Fit Criteria Demonstrable experience of working as part of a team within an organisation and an outline of the approach and style that made it successful - 4 points An example of where you have been transparent and collaborative when making decisions and recommendations - 2 points An example of where you have exhibited a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes - 2 points Demonstrable experience of sharing knowledge and experience with other team members - 5 points An example of where you have challenged existing behaviour and views whilst maintaining good relationships - 3 points Demonstrable experience of showing responsibility, by acting like a leader, serving your team and providing solutions to problems - 2 points Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Work history Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 55% Cultural fit 5% Price 40% Questions from Suppliers Budget range the budget range is £2.2million - £2.5million. the contract will be used to deliver specific service outcomes by bringing in digital expertise. it is estimated at this stage that the contract will have a maximum of one-year duration to deliver projects once the team is up and running, but this will be dependent on how quickly experienced staff can be recruited to the internal digital services team.