Business and management consultancy and related services

Tender description

Hertfordshire County Council (the “Council”) is carrying out Pre-Procurement Market Engagement (“PPME”) in relation to some of its core services as part of the Council’s Next Generation 2021 program: the Council is seeking a range of partner(s) to deliver services to achieve efficiency savings, improve the quality of services and implement leading-edge innovating solutions. The Council will consider the feedback to help inform the Council’s options and further decision making. The Council is not yet sure if the proposed contract will be split in lots. For the avoidance of doubt, this stage of the project is not part of a formal procurement process and the Council is not committing to carrying out such a process. Participation or non-participation in the PPME shall not prevent any supplier participating in a potential future procurement, nor is it intended that any information supplied as part of the PPME shall place any supplier at an advantage in a potential procurement process. Hertfordshire County Council has a reputation for providing high-quality service whilst being prudent and sensitive to the financial constraints that affect all local authorities. The Council’s vision is for “Hertfordshire to continue to be a county where people have the opportunity to live healthy, fulfilling lives in thriving, prosperous communities”. The Council is ambitious for the future and wants to invest wisely in its services and the support it provides to communities so that it can be sure that it gives value for every pound it spends. The Council is at a point now where it has a unique opportunity to make a change to the way it provides some of its core services. These services have been, and are being provided up to now mainly as part of the Shared Managed Service (SMS) contract. This contract’s term expires in 2021, and the Council has new ambitions which it believes will bring about a new era and will change the way services are accessed and supported over the next 5 to 10 years. The current SMS contract delivers the following services: — deliver soft facilities management services for 15 council sites including reception, security and cleaning, catering, — provide HR transaction services, payroll services and controls for the Council’s employees, — process the Council’s financial transactions, — provide the Council’s IT services and deliver associated technical support and projects, — manage the Council’s customer service centre handling a range of services for residents; including highways fault reporting and driver training, — manage the Council’s children’s contact service which arranges supervised visits, — operate the Social Care Access Service which enables older or disabled people to live independently. These services have been asked to challenge themselves around how to provide future services to their customers and service users in an evolving environment that will change the level and nature of demand. There is also an expectation of a measurable return on investment, both in financial and customer satisfaction terms. The Council wants to work with the market to leapfrog current innovation in local authorities. The Council’s objective until the second part of 2019 is to identify options for the future delivery of the service areas in scope, to develop a detailed business case for each option and to make a final decision as to the preferred options. This brief is being used as an outline to engage with the market so the Council can discuss potential solutions. It is anticipated that the service providers, in responding to this PIN, will work collaboratively with the Council to help it shape the future design of services. The Council is not yet sure if the proposed contract will be split in lots.