Manage arrears for non-secure rent accounts, major works and service charges

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done Manage-arrears (beta) has been launched with a small subset of caseworkers. We want to make key improvements raised during beta testing. Moreover, to roll-out the service, the ability to handle rent arrears for non-tenancy accounts, garage, non-secure and introductory tenancies, and temporary accommodations should be added. In addition, the service should include managing leasehold arrears for major works and service charges. Problem to Be Solved Hackney needs to improve its coordination and efficiency in managing arrears across business areas with the aims of reducing overall arrears liability and maximising social benefit from its housing stock. Who Are the Users As a Caseworker, I need... to understand which non-secure tenancies, major works and service charge cases are highest priority so I know how best to allocate my time; the latest balance, status and details of a case for major works and service charge arrears cases so that I can decide what action to take on the cases; the system to automate low risk major works and service charge cases to optimise my time. As a Tenant or Leaseholder, I want… effective arrears texts, emails and printed letters so that I understand my options and what is expected of me. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done We created a simple service to manage secure rent arrears with a small beta team of income collection officers. As part of this work, we also created 3 new Hackney Platform APIs covering tenancies, tenancy details and income collection in AWS. In addition, we integrated with Gov Notify to send texts, emails and letters to tenants. The service includes an algorithm that prioritises cases by profiling each case and providing a priority score. Additional features allow automated escalation toward court action and eviction, managing repayment agreements and keeping a log of system and user generated actions on the arrears case. Existing Team *Head of Service (project sponsor) *Business Analyst / Workflow Consultant, with extensive knowledge of existing arrears process and system, as well as the new beta service *Income Collection team leaders, responsible for managing the rent arrears process *Income Collection team leaders, responsible for manage the leasehold arrears process *Service Manager, responsible for quality and incident management on the live Beta service *Separate teams building a mobile working solution for Estate Officers, account management service for leaseholders and tenants and repairs booking system Current Phase Beta Work Location Initially London Borough of Hackney offices Working Arrangments We would prefer a team onsite for 3 days a week most weeks in order to engage with subject matter experts and ICT; thus, building broader engagement with the style of working (eg through show and tells). Security Clearance Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience Have experience of working to the GDS service design manual Have built a service that has passed a Government Digital Service standard assessment Combine user research, service design and developer expertise Ruby on Rails Have experience designing services for a wide range of digital skills and confidence Ability to support development of REST APIs to Hackney’s standards Experience of developing design patterns that can be re-used for other services Experience of using analytics and user research to prioritise a backlog of improvements Experience integrating with gov.uk Notify API Experience of containerisation using Heroku / AWS Experience using Github Nice to Haves Be prepared to share risk and/or reward with the council if the service is attractive to other authorities Provide opportunities for people seeking ways into work in Hackney (eg through an apprentice working on the project) Experience of working with Dynamics 365 Have experience working with social housing providers Have experience working with Civica’s Universal Housing product No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria Understanding of user needs Quality of the technical solution Clarity of approach How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them Team structure, including skills, experiences and relevance of individuals Experience from a similar project Estimated time-frame for the work Cultural Fit Criteria Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes Take responsibility for their work Share knowledge and experience with other team members Work openly Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Case study Reference Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers Budget range £218,000 + vat, excluding any ongoing support and maintenance