Developing a MVP case management solution to support income collection for social housing tenants

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done There are typically 4,800 tenants in rent arrears. A benchmarking exercise has shown that administration costs to resolve cases are double the median. We have been improving arrears management through the release of a digital service for tenants and a data science project to segment customers. Back-office management of rent accounts remains manual however. The council plans to move away from the existing software (Universal Housing) so wants to explore the opportunity for a case management solution - potentially in a separate platform to integrate with existing systems, prior to full migration towards a rent accounting solution later this year. Problem to Be Solved Problems with the existing process and software include: * No differentiation between high and low risk cases, such that * ~5,000 cases are presented to officers for intervention. * Process is too long / prescriptive, offering little opportunity to staff to use their judgement to deal flexibly with cases. * Lack of automation of some steps, e.g. generating letters, sending SMS. * Reliance on postal communications with tenants. Who Are the Users As an Income Collection Officer, I need the latest balance and status of a case so that my work is timely. As an Income Collection Officer, I need to understand which cases are high risk so I know how best to allocate my time. As an Income Collection Officer, I need to be able to use my discretion when dealing with cases to take personal circumstances into account. As an Income Collection Officer, I need automated processing steps to reduce workload. As the Rent Accounting Manager, I need to see progress through the arrears process to manage risk. Early Market Engagement Work Already Done An online service enabling residents to check and pay rent balance went live in August and is being developed further as a wider financial inclusion tool. This has been accompanied by work on a common API layer to link all of systems and data used within the housing service. Internally, a high level user need analysis of the Income Collection service has taken place with the Head of Service and team leaders. A first release of an algorithm to categorise tenants based on arrears risk and associated drivers has been produced that will enable a more effective prioritisation of cases. Existing Team * Service Manager, responsible for overall development of digital offer within the Housing Service. * Business Analyst / Workflow Consultant, with extensive knowledge of existing arrears process and system. * Income Collection team leaders, responsible for managing the arrears process. * Separate teams building a mobile working solution for Estate Officers, account management service for leaseholders and repairs booking system. Current Phase Discovery Work Location Hackney Service Centre 1 Hillman Street London E8 1DY Working Arrangments We would prefer a team onsite for 3 days a week, most weeks in order to engage with ICT and Income Collection colleagues and build 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 Work agnostic of any particular technology solution Have experience working with social housing providers Have experience working with Civica’s Universal Housing product Combine user research, service design and developer expertise Have experience designing services for a wide range of digital skills and confidence Be able to pass a Local Government Digital Service Standard assessment Experience advising on relative strengths of buying vs building software rent accounting platforms Nice to Haves Experience integrating with gov.uk Notify API 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 working with Outsystems, or similar low code platforms. Experience of working with Dynamics 365 Experience advising on relative strengths of buying vs building rent accounting platforms No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria Quality of the technical solution Clarity of approach How the approach or solution meets user needs Estimated timeframes for the work How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them Team structure, including skills, experiences and relevance of individuals Experience of the method of working from previous projects 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 £175,000