Schools financial benchmarking service - further development and support

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done The purpose of the schools financial benchmarking service (https://schools-financial-benchmarking.service.gov.uk/) is to enable schools to make comparisons between their own spending and that of similar schools in various categories. This information should be used by school leaders to inform their spending decisions and to identify if, where, and how spending changes could be made to support pupil progress within the available level of resource. A public beta version of the new benchmarking service was launched in July 2017. We are looking for an agile delivery partner to provide a team to support the ongoing development and BAU management of the service Problem to Be Solved External support for the schools financial benchmarking service will be required to: - Complete the migration of data processing to the Azure platform, - Complete the development of an automated data processing platform to help identify and rectify data issues, - Ensure a successful Live assessment against GDS standards, and - Ensure that the service is updated with fresh data and continues to reflect user needs and changing government policy. - Ensure the service is supported and maintained in BAU so that there is continuity of service to end users whist in Beta and Live Who Are the Users As school governoror or headteacher, I need to compare my own school's financial data with similar schools in order to identify potential areas of saving and learn from schools that perform better in a given area of spending. As school business manager, I need to understand the details of school finances so that I can look for ways to improve efficiency and to report my findings to the relevant bodies. As service manager of the School Financial Benchmarking service I need to use the data and feedback from the service to inform policy development. Early Market Engagement N/A Work Already Done The schools financial benchmarking service has been fully redeveloped and a public beta version went live in July 2017. The site underwent a GDS assessment in January 2018, which concluded with a number of recommendations to be implemented until the site is granted Live status. Existing Team The provider will be working closely with the Product Owner. Oversight will be provided by the Senior Responsible Officer and the School Resource Management portfolio board. These roles are currently with DfE's Funding Policy Unit and will move to ESFA upon successful GDS Assessment. Current Phase Beta Work Location Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, London It is expected that most of the daily work will be done remotely but attendance at meetings in London will be required occasionally. Working Arrangments Work on this project will continue to follow Agile principles. The provider will work closely with the PO to triage new work based on user insight, maintenance issues or policy changes. This will be done via online collaboration tools. Regular show & tell sessions take place at the Department for Education in London to update the SRO on changes that were made, prioritise future work and consider future resource requirements. The provider will be expected to work and engage with the department’s technical team (for example) when deploying changes to the production environment. Security Clearance Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) clearance Cyber Essentials Additional T&Cs Skills & Experience Examples of delivering digital services using an agile team (per the GDS Service Manual) and of passing GDS Service Standard Assessments Providing a multi-disciplinary team, including user research, service designer, delivery manager, business analyst & technical enterprise architect Experience in working in and leading an agile team as well as coach, mentor and upskill people in agile techniques and roles to build capability within existing teams Web development skills including user interface design (front-end), data analysis and data manipulation (back-end) and experience in delivering rapid iterations in response to user insight and priorities set by business Demonstrable experience in providing full-stack development with a heavy emphasis on data analysis and data manipulation Demonstrable experience in using the following key platform components: Microsoft Azure (CosmosDB, App Service for Windows, Azure Search), ASP.NET MVC, ASP.NET Web API, Visual Studio Team Services (VSTS/VSO), GitHub Demonstrate experience in development of automated data processing platform to identify/rectify data issues, including streamlining data collection processes Experience in reviewing existing information achitecture and making successful recommendations for legacy content Expertise in conducting user research and usability testing to meet any set acceptance criteria (including assisted digital, users with access needs and accessibility audits) Demonstrate how you would work with departmental Technical teams, including identifying and assisting with any areas of potential cost savings or improvements. Nice to Haves Understanding of the schools landscape in England Experience of working within the public sector in the last 3 years Experience of managing and proactively engaging internal stakeholders and building relationships to support digital/business transformation No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria Contingency and Flexibility – Ability to easily scale resources up or down based on project needs and substitute similar resources without any implication to the project Meeting user needs and ensuring successful assessment against Digital Service Standards, demonstrating experience of delivering services for UK government departments or public bodies Strong understanding of agile and the core principles, Inspect and Adapt culture and Scrum, and how these apply Fostering a UX-driven environment to inform development of a public-facing Web Service Value for money: Demonstrate a transparent financial structure and fair pricing for the Service Risk: demonstrate experience in the identification of key assumptions, dependencies, risks and issues, with robust mitigation plans Provision a clear outline of team members and structure and demonstration of how their skills and experience will deliver the requirement Cultural Fit Criteria Demonstration of a proactive approach, taking responsibility for work and resolving issues quickly, without an over-reliance on the client team Demonstration of working collaboratively in a multi-disciplinary team Demonstration of working in a transparent and collaborative way with government departments or public bodies Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Written proposal Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers Budget range the budget for this work is capped at £3million (including vat) for 24 months from november 2018 to october 2020