Homes England - Affordable Housing Transformation Partner

Tender description

Summary of the work • To deliver an end-to-end discovery (estimated 8 weeks) • To design a number of prototype solutions through Alpha phase (estimated 8 weeks) • Potential involvement in Beta solutions. Expected Contract Length 2 months with option to extend for a further 2 x 2 month periods. Latest start date Friday 30 September 2022 Budget Range Homes England has budgetary approval to proceed however we are not disclosing the budget in this instance. We are looking to pay a fair rate for this piece of work that will be informed by the markets response to our requirement. Why the Work is Being Done Homes England has identified that the delivery models will not be able to achieve the uplift in housing delivery we are aiming for, as current processes and systems will not scale efficiently. Current outdated and manual processes together with systems which are not properly integrated, result in duplication of effort, reduced productivity and increase the risk of errors. To address this, we need to take a keen review of our processes, consider how we may do things differently to improve the journey for both colleagues and partners. We will consider options for implementing self-service into our digital services, streamlining processes and building in capability that allows the team agility to accommodate new programmes and deliver efficient and timely deployment of grant. To support this, Homes England are procuring a partner that can deliver both Discovery and Alpha phases. Problem to Be Solved Deliver end-to-end Discovery across the AHP service to design suitable evidence based hypothesis to test during Alpha. Key Discovery outcomes: • Problem statements, user needs, pain points defined, validated and documented • In-depth understanding of the AS-IS service, evidenced by a detailed process map(Blueprint) • Understanding of business constraints(financial,policy,legal) • Performance data baselined • Value of intervening clearly articulated with opportunities, prioritised for Stakeholders • Evidence based hypothesis created to form the basis to begin Alpha(s) • High-level view of the TO-BE service Outputs from the Discovery will inform Alpha The outcomes sought: • Improve colleague experience in delivery of grant funding interventions,reduce repetition of effort in capturing and processing information,streamline and automate processes to increase capacity and enable colleagues to deliver greater productivity. • Improve customer journey, making services accessible and processes simpler. • Deliver automated business intelligence that provides prompt production of information. • Replace outdated, hard to maintain systems, and improve processes that involve extended human intervention leading to increased risk of errors. • Providing a technical infrastructure that is robust, supportable and can evolve. Decisions for Beta will be made post Alpha; it may be that our partner is required to help in procuring/delivering beta solution. Who Are the Users Product / Service users existing and prospective partners applying for and claiming grant to deliver homes under the AHP or associated specialist programmes. Partners range from Registered Providers, LAs, developers and SMEs. Existing and prospective partners provide a significant amount of detailed information into IMS as part of the bidding process and if successful, they continue to access the system on a regular basis to update information and make payment claims in line with agreed milestones. Systems / Process users are Homes England staff (“Colleagues”) who manage the journey from initial engagement with the existing or prospective partner, assessment, approval, contracting, due diligence, contract management and payment of grant and long-term management of the grant in line with contractual requirements. The IMS system provides support for all business activities, but a considerable amount of activity is also managed manually via spreadsheets and documents. We should consider how these work and options for changing and improving these processes via self-service, automation and to ensure we improve efficiency, mitigate errors and achieve a seamless journey for both customers and staff. Early Market Engagement N/A Work Already Done Pre-Discovery is underway to identify key areas within the end-to-end process where there are pain points, manual processes, duplication of effort, reliance on legacy technology. These will help provide a focus for the discovery. As part of this work, a welcome pack will be created – giving a detailed view of the business, structure, products, processes (including a full end to end process map), contact points and an overview of previous Discovery work undertaken. These will be shared as part of onboarding to the winning tender. Existing Team The supplier will be working with Homes England colleagues primarily based remotely. The Investments transformation leadership team will oversee the work of supplier teams. This leadership team is multifunctional with delivery, product, technical and UCD skills represented. However, it is not a delivery team. Three subject matter experts from within the business have already been seconded and will work closely to support the partner. Current Phase Not started Skills & Experience • Demonstrable experience leading the delivery of all aspects of complex UK Government (or-equivalent) digital services from Discovery to Live. • Experience of delivery where there are many dependencies, complicated user journeys and with multiple (3+) cross functional agile teams. • Demonstrable experience of providing a skilled technical team that worked collaboratively in a multi-supplier environment. • Experience of identifying the technical ‘building blocks’ to support business capabilities. • Demonstrable experience of developing as-is and to-be architecture models factoring in wider programme activities • Demonstrable experience of analysing user needs and prototypes to identify appropriate solution approaches i.e. COTS/SaaS solutions vs in-house build. Nice to Haves • Experience of working with Grant management and Know Your Customer processes. • Experience of COTS/SaaS product procurement (public sector) exercises • Experience of CRM / Case Management / Workflow capabilities Work Location Remote, London, Coventry or Newcastle offices. Working Arrangments Currently the team work remotely for majority of the time, the same would be expected of suppliers. Teams should have easy access to London and/or Coventry and/or Newcastle as we expect for all teams to be able to collaborate face to face when needed. The expectation is that this might be up to 2 days per 2 week sprint. Suppliers may be required to occasionally visit other offices/sites across England. Supplier must work closely and collaboratively with HEs in-house team to deliver Discovery and Alpha and enable effective transfer, ensuring any future services can be maintained by HE staff. Security Clearance BPSS Additional T&Cs Standard Framework and Call Off Terms and Conditions subject to the changes and special terms inserted in the order form and schedules. Any expenses shall be submitted in line with Homes England standard T&S policy. We will not consider any further amendments from the supplier. Please confirm your acceptance of the order form and schedules plus special terms and amendments to call off terms. If you are unwilling to accept the order form as drafted, you will be excluded from the selection and award processes. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • - Approach and methodology • - Team structure and resourcing models, including ability to meet resourcing levels, CV’s of key people who will work with us & experience of working together and alongside client teams. • - How the approach or solution meets user needs • - How the approach or solution meets your organisation’s policy or goal • - Value for money Cultural Fit Criteria • Your experience working effectively in a blended team, maintaining accountability over the delivery of the outcome whilst the client provides other key roles and subject matter experts. • Your experience working collaboratively with other suppliers to meet client organisational goals. • How you ensure commitment to the quality of the deliverables and outcomes, rapidly identifying, fixing or replacing if an issue occurs. • Your methods for measuring and maintaining delivery speed, including your approach to supporting drafting of statements of work that capture deliverables and how you take accountability for achieving deliverables. • Your approach to challenging practices and behaviours that do not support digital transformation, and how you work constructively to improve them. 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. Could Authority confirm if DOS stage carries any weightage and if that will be considered in final evaluation. Scores from this shortlisting stage will no be brought forward to the ITT stage. 2. Could you advise of your indicative budget for this opportunity, please? Homes England has budgetary approval to proceed however we are not disclosing the budget in this instance.We are looking to pay a fair rate for this piece of work that will be informed by the markets response to our requirement. 3. Is the pre-discovery being undertaken by an in-house team or third party? If the latter, could you please confirm who? Pre discovery is being done in house by the existing programme leadership team, which consist of product, delivery, ucd and technical skills. 4. What do you mean by “technical ‘building blocks’”? We are looking for experience where assessment of business capabilities have resulted in the formation of Technology solutions to meet the capabilities. With a modular approach we are looking for experience in re using technologies to build upon and deliver an enterprise wide solution rather than simple like for like silo replacements. 5. Within our individual 100-word responses, would you like to see one more detailed example or multiple examples with less detail? Completely down to you as the supplier, please answer in a way which would provide the strongest answer and best demonstrate your experience. 6. Can you provide a procurement schedule for this opportunity? First sift will take place soon after 27th June. Decision expected early July. Second stage will take place throughout July with a final decision expected before the end of July. This is difficult to plan as we do not know how many applications we will receive until the deadline. 7. Are you happy to receive examples of relevant work we have conducted within the private sector, as well as the public sector? Private sector examples are acceptable unless the question/requirement specifically states otherwise. 8. Is one of the locations a primary location where you would expect the majority of work to take place? We expect the majority of the work to take place remotely. 9. Can you confirm if the mentioned pre-discovery work has identified any key areas within the end-to-end process to prioritise intervention? That is the plan, however the pre-discovery is still underway. 10. Is Homes England willing to consider a written proposal submitted by a consortium of suppliers? Yes, however please make it clear who the suppliers are and who will be the main contact. Please also detail which examples of experience apply to the individual suppliers. 11. What outcomes would you expect from completing as-is and to-be architecture models? We would expect a viewpoint of our technology estate, highlighting dependencies, technical debt, duplication, silo deployments which compounded will help to facilitate the state of the As Is leading towards possible To Be architecture. 12. The summary of the work section informs that discovery is estimated at 8 week and Alpha is estimated at 8 weeks (so 16 weeks total), but the expected contract length is two months (so 8 weeks).Could you confirm if both Discovery and Alpha are in scope and the guaranteed minimum contract timeframe please? Apologies; the published duration was incorrect. It should state 4 months with the option to extend for a further 2 month period.It is our intention to continue in to Alpha from Discovery with the successful supplier. 13. How is “Potential involvement in Beta solutions” covered in the Expected contract length? This is yet to be determined and will depend on what is learned through discovery and alpha. 14. Will there be a separate procurement process through Digital Marketplace for Beta? The Beta phase will be a separate procurement (but not necessarily through the Digital Marketplace depending on what is learned through Discovery and Alpha).