Financial and insurance services

Tender description

The Council wishes to enter into an early dialogue with potential suppliers who can undertake the full service delivery (outsourced provision) of the following service areas: — Administration of Housing Benefits. — Collection of Council tax. — Collection of Business rates. — Collection of Sundry debts. — Administration and control functions associated with the above functions. — Revenue and benefits customer contact functions via telephone and face-to-face. Reading Borough Council (RBC) is a Unitary Authority in Berkshire serving a population of more than 160 000 people. Further information on the profile of RBC can be found at http://www.reading.gov.uk/borough-profile RBC continues to face significant pressure on budgets with further savings to be made over the next 3 years. The Council has already made savings in the Corporate support services (CSS) function (which includes administration of Housing benefits, Council tax support, collection of Council tax, Business rates and Sundry debts) but further savings and additional income targets are required. In February 2018, the Council approved a decision to market test the Revenues and benefits services with the objective to identify if service providers could deliver the services at a lower cost whilst maintaining or improving service quality. As a result, the Council is now considering a public procurement exercise to identify a supplier to deliver these services. The contract value is expected to be in the range GBP 1 500 000 - GBP 2 500 000 p.a. Contract duration is open for discussion. The Council is keen to hear from potential suppliers about innovative commercial models for the delivery of these services. The council wishes to enter into dialogue with organisations which meet a minimum requirement to deliver these services. The minimum requirement is to demonstrate the delivery of at least one contract for Revenues and Benefits services (as identified in scope) with a minimum value of GBP 1 000 000 p.a. Organisations who believe they can fulfil this requirement and can demonstrate a track record of delivering similar services should provide: — A summary of their organisational experience and capability. — An example of similar contracts which your organisation is delivering. — A statement to self-certify that they meet the minimum requirement. Tenderers are advised that RBC believes that the transfer of Undertakings (Protection of employment) Regulations 2006 and/or European communities acquired rights directive 77/187 applies. Information about the TUPE liabilities associated with the service will be provided to tenderers at tender stage. This is an early engagement exercise as part of the development of a planned procurement.