Printing and distribution services

Tender description

The Borough Council of Newcastle-under-Lyme is looking to appoint a supplier for the following electoral services printing distribution and graphics services. The Returning Officer is required by law to send an official poll card to all electors, including postal voters, as soon as practicable after the publication of the notice of election. The official poll cards for ordinary electors and for postal voters are prescribed forms or forms to the like effect. Poll cards will need to be lasered with personal and corporate data. For example elector details, polling station details, helpline telephone number etc. Unless otherwise specified on a particular occasion, the Council will require the poll cards to be processed into the service provider’s Mail Injection service. Where the poll cards are to be handed over to a mail carrier the printer shall arrange this and the poll cards ordered in the appropriate way according to the mail carrier’s guidelines to attract the lowest postage cost. (If required, the Council will provide access to their online business account to allow completion of the necessary Royal Mail docket or alternate mail carrier’s equivalent system). Postal vote packs: The Returning Officer is required to issue postal packs to all registered postal voters as soon as possible after the deadline for receipt of postal vote applications (“early issue”). However, suppliers should note that each pack will need to be lasered with personal and corporate data. For example elector details, PPI licence number, helpline telephone numbers, etc. Each ballot pack should consist of an outer envelope containing the ballot paper(s) and postal vote statement; together with instructions in pictorial form: Envelope A: ballot paper envelope; and Envelope B: return envelope. Division, Ward or Parish name will be required on the front of Envelope B. The supplier must be able to produce an integrated mailer that allows 2 ballot papers to be attached to the postal vote statement and which is compliant with legislative design and wording. Issue and quality checks will be undertaken at the supplier’s venue prior to the commencement of the election timetable. The printer will be required to arrange and manage the hand over of the packs to their nominated mail carrier. The postal packs must meet the criteria set by the Nominated Service Provider. (If required, the Council will provide access to their online business account to allow completion of the necessary Royal Mail docket or alternate mail carrier’s equivalent system). Ballot papers: The specification for ballot papers is prescribed by law and the printer is required to ensure that all ballot papers are printed in accordance with these requirements. The Council will require the printer to supply ballot papers on white or coloured paper, details of which will be specified in advance. Ballot papers must be supplied in books of 100 for ordinary papers and books of 25 for tendered papers. The colour of all ballot papers including the ones provided on postal votes must match. Ballot papers, including tendered books must be sorted, labelled and returned to the Council in polling station order. In addition the printer may be required to provide large print ballot papers for each electoral area; numbers to be specified prior to each election. Canvass: The supplier must have the ability to print all types of Household Enquiry Forms (HEF) including initial forms, reminder forms and canvass forms which include pre-populated data from the Council’s Electoral Management System (EMS)*. Data files containing necessary Invitations to Register (ITR) generated from HEF returns will be exported to the supplier, printed and despatched on a basis as agreed by the supplier and the Council. The facility to print and despatch large runs of confirmation letters is also required. The Council currently uses IDOX Strand but could change provider during the duration of the printing contract. Other suppliers in the market place include: Xpress EMS, Halarose and Democracy Counts. Forms must comply with legal requirement and be printed in black/white. Despatch of these forms must be to the service provider’s mail injection mechanism and must be sorted by polling district order as required to attract the lowest postage cost. (If required, the Council will provide access to their online business account to allow completion of the necessary Royal Mail docket or alternate mail carrier’s equivalent system.). Business as Usual: The supplier will need to demonstrate what services they have in place for small print runs on a daily or weekly basis of ITRs, reminder ITRs, canvass ITRs, confirmation letters and acknowledgement letters as per the Council’s requirements. The supplier would have to have sufficient capacity within the year to provide the required forms for an Electoral Registration Officer to undertake a mini canvass at their discretion. The supplier must have the facility to deal with the small mailing requirements under IER (i.e. confirmation letters and reminder HEF/ITR forms) and the production of small mailings for despatch. The supplier should have the facility to securely transfer data for small print runs (ad hoc HEFs and ITRs) directly to them using software either installed on relevant workstations or embedded within the Council’s EMS. Miscellaneous Materials and Services: The supplier must be able to produce vote refresh letters from data files provided by the Council and despatched to the mail carrier as required. All documents must comply with the specification as set by the Council and comply with any legal requirements. Pre-printed, legally compliant, return envelopes for all elections and registration products to be supplied as requested by the Council.