Local Digital Collaboration Unit, Community Engagement Playbook

Tender description

Why the Work is Being Done The Local Digital Collaboration Unit (LDCU) at the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government are looking for a partner to deliver a discovery project. Local Digital is a growing community of organisations working together with a shared vision to deliver more user-centred, cost-effective local public services through open, collaborative and reusable work. The community was drawn together around the Local Digital Declaration, co-published in 2018, and is supported by funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to provide training to all signatories and funding to selected collaborative projects. The Local Digital Declaration (signed by 150 local authorities as well as MHCLG and GDS) has 5 principles one of which covers working in the open and sharing plans and experiences. In 2020 we have made funding available for data and digital projects to help local authorities in England with their COVID-19 recovery and renewal efforts. This government funding of up to £800,000 in total is aimed at supporting Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) projects that look to combat the challenges faced by local government as a direct result of COVID-19. This project forms 1 of the 11 projects that would be awarded funding. Problem to Be Solved Throughout Covid-19 Local Authorities needed to devise new and different ways to interact, consult and engage with citizens. The Local Authorities and groups that form this project: South Gloucestershire Council and Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames with LB Sutton, West Berkshire Council, LGSS, Oxford City Council, Staffordshire County Council, Northamptonshire County, Cambridgeshire County Council, LB Waltham Forest and London Office of Technology and Innovation are looking to bring together learnings to create a playbook. The playbook should include reusable and transferable approaches covering a variety of methods and technologies to achieve engagement with the public at a local level. Enabling councils to meet statutory requirements and bridge the gap between traditional face to face consultation, with more digital and inclusive approaches, including with members of the public from underrepresented or ‘harder to reach’ groups. A supplier should propose a methodology and approach (in line with Government Service Standards) that will enable us to reach as close to this outcome as possible within the timeframes. The first iteration should be of sufficient quality that it can be shared with the wider local digital community. Who Are the Users 1. As a council employee, I need to define the best way to engage with citizens, so that my engagement is more effective and includes people from underrepresented groups. 2. As a local council, I need to see what other methods councils are using for community engagement, so that I can learn and define the best approaches. 3. As a local council, I want to increase participation amongst certain groups so that I can be sure that our consultation or engagement processes garner diverse views. Early Market Engagement The project team delivered a short introduction to the project to suppliers invited by TechUK on 17 August, this was attended by around 50 suppliers working across the field of digital data and technology. Work Already Done This work will build upon existing work undertaken. Background studies include: ● Using Digital Tools & Methods to Engage Residents in Covid Recovery (LOTI) ● Digital Democracy: The tools transforming political engagement (NESTA) ● The State of Digital Public Engagement: Literature Review (MySociety) ● Democracy and Digital Technologies (Democracy and Digital Engagement Committee) ● Involve’s Knowledge Base on Digital Engagement Oxford City Council have undertaken initial research using some the above sources. A range of non-digital methods of engagement were drawn from the council’s experience along with a typology of digital democracy to set out a range of options. Existing Team Suppliers will work with the Local Digital Collaboration Unit team at MHCLG, you will be expected to work with one of our Collaboration Managers who will take on the role of Product Owner. Suppliers will be expected to work with representatives from South Gloucestershire Council and Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames with LB Sutton, West Berkshire Council, LGSS, Oxford City Council, Staffordshire County Council, Northamptonshire County, Cambridgeshire County Council, LB Waltham Forest and London Office of Technology and Innovation who make up the wider project group. No other suppliers are involved with this project at this stage. Current Phase Discovery Work Location Remote working or at 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF. Working Arrangments Given the current COVID-19 climate, we would expect the supplier to work remotely but keep in close contact with the existing team. Any changes on these circumstances will be agreed with the supplier. We expect the supplier to work in line with the MHCLG Digital mission, values and ways of working. We work openly and use agile methodology. We will induct the supplier on team specific practises and on the overarching hypotheses and vision we work to. Security Clearance BPSS or higher Additional T&Cs 1. All outputs will be owned by MHCLG and published openly where appropriate using a suitable open license that supports reuse. 2. All materials/outputs derived from the contract shall be the property of MHCLG. 3. GDPR requirements will be discussed and agreed once the successful supplier has been notified (as part of discussions to agree the wording of the call-off contract). Skills & Experience Demonstrable experience of using Agile methodologies in line with the government service standard for product delivery at Discovery and Alpha stages A multidisciplinary discovery team made up of appropriately skilled team members to include User Research, Content Design and Delivery Management. Experience of working with a blended team (where product owner, delivery manager or other roles have been provided by the client team). Experience of working in the open and regularly sharing with a wide audience Nice to Haves Experience of delivering agile digital projects in line with the Government Service Standard, including experience of Government Service Standard Assessments Previous experience of developing a playbook or guidance product Previous experience or expertise in the field of local government consultation No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria Approach and methodology How the approach or solution meets user needs How the approach or solution meets your organisation’s policy or goal Estimated timeframes for the work How they’ve identified risks and dependencies and offered approaches to manage them Team structure and roles/experience Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria Work as a team with our organisation and Local Authority partners Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions Share knowledge and experience with other team members Work in the open, sharing show and tells and blog posts about the work widely throughout Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Case study Work history Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 70% Cultural fit 10% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers Budget range up to £80,000 (excluding vat)