Discovery for Northern Ireland products as part of EIP Digital programme

Tender description

Summary of the work This is the fourth in a series of discoveries for the Electoral Integrity Programme. It reviews the three earlier discoveries in a Northern Ireland context, to understand how the proposals from those discoveries might work in Northern Ireland, and how to implement these changes. Expected Contract Length 10 weeks Latest start date Monday 17 January 2022 Budget Range £60,000 - £100,000 Why the Work is Being Done The Electoral Integrity Programme (EIP) will deliver key Government manifesto and ministerial commitments including: - the national roll out of voter identification - making it easier for overseas electors to vote - improving the transparency of political campaigning; measures to secure our democratic processes, improving the security of postal and proxy voting - and making polling stations more accessible To deliver this transformational work, primary legislation has been introduced to Parliament. The Programme will run change projects concurrently to deliver substantial supporting secondary legislation and digital innovation plus the infrastructure across the United Kingdom to support the successful delivery of the Government’s vision. This discovery phase (products for Northern Ireland) is a follow-up piece of research/design, which will focus on how products recommended in previous discoveries for Great Britain should be adapted to meet the needs of citizens living in Northern Ireland and associated legislation in Northern Ireland governing registration processes. Problem to Be Solved To deliver the Government’s goals for electoral integrity and reform, a series of changes need to made to how voters register and how they vote, in the Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Having completed the Discoveries for England, Wales and Scotland, we now need to understand what changes to the proposed solutions are required to make them work in Northern Ireland. The discovery-phase is aimed at identifying and refining several options, allowing future decisions to be evidence based and driven by data. The discovery phase is essential to agile working, to enable refinement of options before money is spent building services. The discovery should do the following as a minimum: Identify the minimum viable product (MVP) for implementation of policy goals (including changes to local electoral management systems) Recommend new processes/digital products based on analysis of the balance of elector accessibility, security, and administrative burden Consider the needs of both electors and electoral administrators, gathering robust evidence from user research to inform recommendations. Consider the offline/paper-based process in parallel to digital processes Work within constraints (such as legal and system interoperability) to recommend solutions which deliver greatest benefits Work closely with EIP teams: Digital, Business Implementation, Analysis, and Policy. Who Are the Users Electors in Northern Ireland - who need to use elections and registration digital services (in digital and non-digital formats) Electoral administrators at the Electoral Office of Northern Ireland - who need to process applications and maintain the electoral register Early Market Engagement None Work Already Done 4 other discoveries were completed in November 2021 - on Voter Card, Overseas Electors, Identity Verification, and Registration Process Efficiency. High level service designs and blueprints have been created. User research conducted with target user groups to refine understanding of core user needs in service design. Outputs will be shared with shortlisted suppliers. Existing Team Cabinet Office will provide a Product Manager to lead this project and technical, service design and user research leads to assure the quality of deliverables. Multiple suppliers will be expected to work together on deliverables where appropriate. Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Demonstrable experience of leading Discovery activities • Conducting user research remotely • Qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis techniques • Recruiting hard to reach user groups in Northern Ireland • Experience working in publicly sensitive contexts Nice to Haves Experience working with stakeholders in Northern Ireland Work Location The majority of work will be done remotely, but the supplier may need to attend meetings in London, and there may be a need to carry out some of the research on-site in Northern Ireland. Working Arrangments The Supplier is expected to support the EIP Team during normal opening hours (Monday to Friday 08:00 to 18:00). The work will be mainly remote but the London office will be a focal point for the EIP Project and CO may expect supplier staff to spend part of their time at any location designated by the buyer as required, including for workshops, meetings, collaboration, and team building. Security Clearance BPSS or higher. Clearance cost to be borne by the supplier. Additional T&Cs Roles in scope of IR35 No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria • approach and methodology • How the approach or solution meets user needs • Estimated timeframes for the work • Risks and dependencies • Team Structure • value for money Cultural Fit Criteria • challenge the status quo • Transparent and collaborative decision making • Take responsibility for work • Able to work with other suppliers in a programme of work Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method • Case study • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Is the requirement inside ir35? Yes, the resources for the outcomes requirements fall inside ir35. 2. Can you please define “hard to reach user groups”? By this we mean people less likely to engage in elections for whatever reason, whether this is personal circumstances, digital access or knowledge, etc. 3. Please could you elaborate on how the budget range was determined? £60k – £100k feels lightweight for what is clearly a very important programme of work where robust user research will be key to supporting success in the later delivery phases. We feel the budget range is appropriate for our requirement. Suppliers will be briefed on the earlier discoveries - this is not an attempt to repeat all of this discovery activity in Northern Ireland. 4. Will Cabinet Office be facilitating recruitment of candidates for user research (for example: interviews, surveys)? Or do you need suppliers to take care of this? CO is expecting suppliers to handle recruitment. 5. Who from your team will be scoring applications for this opportunity and what positions do they hold? Evaluator will be made up of subject matter experts, CDIO, and EIP team 6. Can you confirm if shortlisted suppliers will have the opportunity to present? Yes 7. Can you please advise the preferred tech stack for this opportunity? There is no preferred tech stack for this Discovery. 8. Has any external supplier been involved in the scoping of this advert? If so, who? Subject matter experts are involved in the scoping of the advert. 9. Were any suppliers involved in the 4 other discoveries? If so, who? Different suppliers were involved in the deliivery of the various discoveries; Thoughtworks, Softwire, Hippo