Research and development services and related consultancy services

Tender description

Devon County Council (DCC) and Somerset County Council (SCC) are looking to establish an Economic Research and Bid Support Framework of suppliers to facilitate the easy commissioning of economic research and evaluation as well as bid support and business case development to enhance the economies of Devon, Somerset and the Heart of the South West area. Whilst the Framework is managed by DCC, SCC have entered into a collaboration agreement permitting them to jointly use the framework and award their own contracts through each of the Lots. The contracting body will become the accountable body for that contract and responsible for all administration, management, payments, disputes and guidance associated with it. Lot 1 will be focussed on undertaking bespoke analysis and research of economic events, topics and geographies, which will enhance and add value to our existing economy evidence base. The gathering of evidence from primary and secondary research and analysing the impacts of certain events on the economy will help to provide a deeper understanding of specific issues relating to the economies of Devon, Somerset and potentially the wider Heart of the South West LEP (HotSW LEP) area. This will also assist with providing evidence of proposed interventions (e.g. to assist funding applications) as well as provide support to quantify the outputs from existing initiatives to assess whether they are exercising good practice, providing value for money and have achieved their aims. Further information on Heart of the South West can be found at the following website: https://heartofswlep.co.uk/ It is estimated that the value of contracts awarded under this framework are likely to be in the range of £350,000- £450,000. The budget for this Lot is influenced by internal and external funding streams that will be leveraged from other sources for specific pieces of research. These figures must be considered as a guide only and there is no guarantee of any work to be awarded under Lot 1 of this framework. Lot 2 is for the provision of specialist technical support on an individual basis to DCC or SCC in relation to bid writing and business case development. The Lot will be used to commission bid writing services to draw down funding from various sources such as European Regional Development Fund, European Structural Investment Fund, Enhanced Social Enterprise Programmes and other regional and central government funds. Other works put through Lot 2 will be for researching and writing business cases for projects such as innovation centres and infrastructure projects. These may include primary research to identify local need as well as outlining project financials and other aspects of support to project management through to design and execution It is estimated that the value of contracts awarded under this framework are likely be in the range of 75 000 GBP — 150 000 GBP. The budget for this Lot is influenced by internal and external funding streams that will be leveraged from other sources for specific pieces of research. These figures must be considered as a guide only and there is no guarantee of any work to be awarded under Lot 2 of this framework.