CPD4124083 DLUHC Digital Planning Reform Programme Delivery Partner

Tender description

Summary of the work The emphasis on digitally enabled reforms and pursuing data-led systems, requires DLUHC to shape and deliver the data standards, API, and digital and data tools to support local authorities and the market. Specialist resources to supplement existing teams will deliver the digital elements of the Planning Reform Programme. Expected Contract Length 2 years + 6 months extension – or up until 31st March 2025 Latest start date Thursday 15 September 2022 Budget Range The estimated maximum value for the full contract term including any extensions will be £3,963,300.00 (Three million, nine hundred and sixty-three thousand and three hundred pounds) excluding VAT. Estimated budget £1,600,000.00 this FY. Why the Work is Being Done DLUHC is embarking on an ambitious, digital reform programme to modernise England’s planning system so that it can be more efficient, more certain and make it easier for citizens and communities to engage in planning and development. The digital reforms will shift a semi analogue planning system based on documents to one that is data-driven, standards based, and powered by modern user centred products and services. This Contract will be drawn down on to meet a number of key priority areas across the digital reforms, but also the wider planning reform programme. Work includes: -User researcher skills to ensure user feedback is collated to inform policy development -Developer skills to ensure our data work can continue at pace (developing the standards, tools, guidance and templates) -Product and Delivery manager skills to ensure the programme continue to deliver the right priorities Additional, flexible, specialist and temporary support is needed to deliver the workstreams. Examples of specialist roles include: -Software developers and engineers (Will also require some SC cleared personnel for working on live environments) -Product and Delivery managers -User researchers -PMO support -Content designers -Engagement managers Problem to Be Solved There is a need for a flexible supplier to respond to urgent requests received by DLUHC and to enable them to access the market for support in delivering urgent digital projects where resources are required within 5-10 working days. We expect the contract to deliver outcomes across various aspects across our 3 digital planning workstreams: • Data and standards - creating data standards and tools that enable planning rules to be set as data • New planning software – co-creating modern, data driven planning software with councils and the market • Digital engagement with citizens - re-engage citizens in planning and bolster the PropTech engagement sector. The internal Digital Planning team are in place however the demands of the 3 workstreams will mean resource requirements will vary across the year and we will require additional, flexible, specialist and temporary support to deliver the workstreams. Who Are the Users As a Department, I need flexible resources to run and develop digital services and projects within 5-10 working days. I may need one individual, or a number of staff to complement a team I have. The supplier will work with DLUHC (including digital and planning teams), Other Government Departments & ALBs from a range of disciplines, including architecture, security, policy, service and product management, finance, and delivery management. Knowledge transfer back into the Government (DLUHC) will be required to enable DLUHC to improve internal capability to build and support the services. Where required in the development cycle, collaboration with other suppliers may be necessary. This contract will not prevent us from using other commercial arrangements, including using capability contracts, to pull together a team from a range of suppliers. Early Market Engagement N/A Work Already Done This programme of work in in its early stages. However, so far, the team have: - Set up the programme - Implemented initial governance and reporting structures - Carried out discovery, alpha and beta work in the different workstreams - Worked closely with the ministers and policy teams to ensure that the digital aspects are fully integrated into the wider programme. Existing Team The supplier will work with DLUHC (including digital and planning teams), Other Government Departments & ALBs from a range of disciplines, including architecture, security, policy, service and product management, finance, and delivery management. Knowledge transfer back into DLUHC will be required to enable DLUHC to improve internal capability to build and support the services. Where required in the development cycle, collaboration with other suppliers may be necessary. This contract will not prevent us from using other commercial arrangements, including using capability contracts, to pull together a team from a range of suppliers. Current Phase Not applicable Skills & Experience • Demonstrable experience of allocating resources based on uncertain demand and describe your business model of how you would resource specialist roles for this contract. • Demonstratable experience of understanding the types of roles and experiences that are required to develop modern digital, data and technology services. • Your approach to sourcing security cleared staff, and your approach to getting staff security clearance. • Demonstrate experience/approach to ensuring continuity of service is maintained during assignments e.g. if resource needs to be replaced at short notice. Nice to Haves Recent experience of sourcing specialist individuals that have worked on digital projects and/or services that crosses both central government and local government Work Location Combination of virtually and physically at 2 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DF. Working Arrangments DLUHC and the delivery partner will agree and commit to a series of Statement of Works. Resource requirements and outcomes delivered will vary across the year and the SOWs will reflect the work required. Examples of specialist roles include: -Software developers and engineers (Will also require some SC cleared personnel for working on live environments) -Product and Delivery managers -User researchers -PMO support -Content designers -Engagement managers We anticipate a maximum of 5-8 concurrent Statements of Work IR35 assessments will be conducted when each role is requested (and if an existing role is reassigned to a new project). Security Clearance Baseline BPSS clearance will be required to access DLUHC's ICT systems. Optional –Counter Terrorism Clearance (CTC) or above isn’t required but is desirable so staff don’t need escorting on site. Additional T&Cs 1. There will be a break clause in the contract for 31st December 2022, pending further spend approval. The successful tenderer will be informed of the outcome before December 2022, subject to DLUHC internal process. 2. All outputs will be owned by DLUHC and published openly where appropriate using a suitable open license that supports reuse. 3. All materials/outputs derived from the contract shall be the property of DLUHC. 4. 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). No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria • Your approach to sourcing specialist resources within 5-10 working days • Your understanding of the Digital Service Standard and Government Design Principles • Your approach to deploying specialist individuals into established DDaT teams • Your ability to evidence where value has been added to projects you have worked on • Your approach to managing conflict resolution (resources, stakeholders) • Your approach to dealing with multiple stakeholders (skill and seniority) and managing expectations • Your approach to hybrid working • Pricing scores for evaluation purposes only will be calculated assuming 21 working days per month of each of the different types of roles below-SFIA Level 4. • 1 x Senior Software Developer, 2 x Software Developer, 1 x Technical Architect, 2 x Delivery Manager, 1 x Content Designer, 1 x Programme Delivery Manager, 1 x User Researcher • Quality Scoring as follows: • Score 0 = Failed to provide confidence that the proposal will meet the requirements. An unacceptable response with serious reservations. • Score 25 = A Poor response with reservations. The response lacks convincing detail with risk that the proposal will not be successful in meeting all the requirements. • Score 50 = Meets the requirements – the response generally meets the requirements, but lacks sufficient detail to warrant a higher mark. • Score 75= A Good response that meets the requirements with good supporting evidence. Demonstrates good understanding. • Score 100=An Excellent comprehensive response that meets the requirements. Indicates an excellent response with detailed supporting evidence and no weaknesses resulting in a high level of confidence. • In the event of a tie the highest score in the Technical Competence section will be used to award • Presentation – expected mid-August 2022 • Max 10 pages in A4 with size 11 font (excluding CVs) Cultural Fit Criteria • CULTURAL FIT (10%)Your approach to embedding specialist individuals quickly within organisations with differing cultures • Your ability to align with public sector values • Your approach to Data Protection compliance • SOCIAL VALUE (10%) • Theme2/MAC2.4 Education and Training-Tackling Economic Inequality. Support educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications. • Using a maximum of 500 words describe the commitment your organisation will make to ensure that opportunities under the contract deliver from the above guidelines.(5%) Please include: • Your ‘Method Statement’, stating how you will achieve this and how your commitment meets the Award Criteria, and • a timed project plan and process, including how you will implement your commitment and by when. • Propose how you will monitor, measure and report on your commitments/the impact of your proposals. (50%) • You should include but not be limited to: • ○ timed action plan ○ use of metrics ○ tools/processes used to gather data ○ reporting ○ feedback and improvement ○ transparency • Scoring for Social Value see below: • Score 0 = The response completely fails to meet the required social value standard or does not provide a response. • Score 25 = The response makes limited reference (naming only) to the social value policy outcome set out within the invitation. • Score 50 = The response addresses most of the social value policy outcome and also shows general market experience. • Score 75 = The response addresses the social value policy outcome and also shows good market experience. • Score 100 = The response addresses the social value policy outcome and also shows in-depth market experience. Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method • Case study • Work history • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 30% Cultural fit 20% Price 50% Questions from Suppliers 1. who is the current incumbent? Made Tech Limited 2. Who is the incumbent who delivered Discovery, Alpha and Beta, and should a new supplier be awarded this contract, would they be replacing such incumbent, or would they be supplying services in addition to them? Made Tech. There are multiple workstreams in the programme, some of which supported by the incumbent, the rest delivered by internal teams. They are at different stages of their lifecycle. The current incumbent contract is concluding. 3. How can we provide the details of the pricing for this project? Prices will only be submitted as part of the stage 2 written proposal element. Prices do not form part of the stage 1 shortlisting element whereby suppliers respond only to the essential/nice to have questions. 4. Who from your team will be scoring applications for this opportunity and what positions do they hold? The evaluation panel will consist of full-time members of the Digital Planning team and will be overseen by Commercial staff. 5. Who is the incumbent and how long they have been the incumbent? Made Tech – since November 2021 6. Can you please provide an anticipated timeline for this procurement that includes dates for: 1) Shortlisting Notification for Stage 2 2) Submission Deadline for Stage 2 3) Presentation 4) Evaluation period 5) Award Notification Estimated timescales below.1. early August 20222. mid-August 20223. mid-August 20224. following presentations5. wc 22/8/22 7. Can you confirm if shortlisted suppliers will have the opportunity to present? Yes we anticipate that all shortlisted suppliers (max 4) will be invited to present and we expect that to be mid-August 2022 8. Can you provide a procurement schedule for this opportunity? See Q6 9. Are there any specific themes or examples you’d like to see within suppliers’ responses? An ability to place individuals into multiple workstreams who are supportive of the strategic aims as set out by DLUHC leads, bearing in mind a focus on providing benefits to the taxpayer. 10. Within our individual 100-word responses, would you like to see one, more detailed example or multiple examples with less detail? There is no preference. Evaluators want to see responses which answer the questions within the given criteria. 11. What programming languages, technology stack is expected to be used for this work? Software development is not the main focus of this work. Product and project delivery skills, and user research to inform policy development are the more prominent aspects of the contract. However, our technology stack consists of AWS, Heroku, and Python as our programming language. 12. Can you please provide an anticipated timeline for this procurement that includes dates for:1) Shortlisting Notification for Stage 22) Submission Deadline for Stage 23) Presentation4) Evaluation period5) Award Notification See Question 6 13. Who from your team will be scoring applications for this opportunity and what positions do they hold? See Question 4 14. Is remote working a possibility? (Work location is listed as London). Yes 15. Please could DLUHC confirm the existing technology stack and which phase the services are currently. See Question 2 and Question 11 16. What tech stack(s) will developers be needed? See Question 1 1 17. Has the full budget been given approval? The project team have full approval for a budget of £3.9m; however we should clarify that it is expected that the total contract value is likely to exceed this figure (it is estimated this could reach approximately £8m) subject to further approvals. 18. The spec and clarification questions discuss deployment of individuals – is this contract exclusively a resource augmentation style approach or is the Authority looking for formed teams whether by phase (eg Discovery) or functional (eg user researchers). For this contract, the Authority is seeking resource augmentation and functional specialists (e.g. user researchers). 19. Please can we enquire why “IR35 assessments will be conducted when each role is requested (and if an existing role is reassigned to a new project)”. As a Digital Outcomes (rather than Digital Specialists) based procurement where the successful supplier will be providing DLUHC with a Managed Service, should this contract be deemed as outside IR35? In keeping with DLUHC internal procedures an IR35 assessment is conducted for each role as and when it is identified. It is only after the determination has been confirmed that suppliers are notified if required.