Clean Heat Market Mechanism - Digital Discovery

Tender description

Summary of the work A Discovery is needed to understand in detail the requirements for a minimum viable product for the Clean Heat Market Mechanism digital platform. Expected Contract Length 8-10 weeks Latest start date Monday 14 November 2022 Budget Range It is estimated that the work can be delivered within the budget of no more than £181,500. Why the Work is Being Done We plan to introduce a Clean Heat Market Mechanism (CHMM) in 2024, to support the development of the UK market for low-carbon electric heat pumps. This mechanism will create a market incentive to grow the numbers of heat pumps installed in existing premises each year, providing industry with a clear, long-term policy framework for investment and innovation. We will do this by creating an obligation on the manufacturers of fossil fuel heating appliances to sell a certain number of heat pumps proportional to their fossil fuel boiler sales (i.e. gas and oil boilers) in a given period. We also intend to provide an alternative way for parties to meet their obligation beyond and alongside the sale of their own heat pumps, through the buying and selling of sales certificates/credits from other parties. A digital platform will be required to record heat pump and fossil fuel boiler sales data, to calculate and record obligations, receive heat pump credit trading data and allow for information management and communication with participants. Problem to Be Solved The CHMM team is seeking to understand what digital product is required to provide for the delivery of the CHMM scheme in line with the requirements set out above. Is a bespoke delivery platform required, and if so what form would it take? Might some or all of the requirements be met through existing digital products and if so what modification or amendment might these require? Might any or all of the requirements be better suited to manual solutions? Who Are the Users As a boiler manufacturer, I need to view my obligation, enter/review sales data for boilers (and potentially heat pumps), view guidance on meeting my obligation, and communicate with the scheme administrator. I need information about credits I have sold/purchased to be reflected in the system. I may need to report the price of my credit trades, and see the price of other credits traded on the market. As a heat pump manufacturer, I need to be able communicate with the scheme administrator. I need information about credits I have sold to be reflected in the system. I may need to report the price of my credit trades, and see the price of other credits traded on the market. As a scheme administrator, I need to review boiler manufacturers' obligations, review sales data and credit trading data. I need heat pump sales/installation data which will likely be derived from a range of data sets. I need this data to be correct, free of duplication, and risk of fraud/falsification minimised. I need to issue guidance/notices to all scheme participants. I need to communicate with individual participants to resolve issues, and be able to issue and track non-compliance and response actions. Existing Team The existing team consists of a product manager (who works across the programme) Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Demonstrate experience of conducting discovery research and developing the problem space for new service design, including how you conduct user research and your methodologies, in accordance with GDS/CDDO GOV.UK standards • Demonstrate your experience in building a strong understanding of technological constraints, existing contracts, data limitations, legislation and other existing processes and systems • Demonstrate your experience of identifying and mapping existing services in the problem space • Demonstrate your experience of developing a service vision and service design • Demonstrate your experience of developing options to deliver a service vision and analysing these options to deliver a recommendation, including through the development of KPIs • Demonstrate your experience of agile project management skills, in accordance with GDS/CDDO and GOV.UK standards, to manage a project to budget Nice to Haves • Demonstrate your experience of working in the net zero or energy space, with heat pump and/or boiler manufacturer, or similar technical projects • Demonstrate your experience of researching, designing or building digital services for use by government, regulators or industry • Demonstrate your experience of exchange/trading based platforms Work Location Remote Working and/or Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET Working Arrangments The supplier will be expected to be available during the typical working hours of the policy team (Monday to Friday 9:30am-5pm) in order to maximise knowledge transfer. We may want to be able to hold face-to-face meetings where appropriate, but also to work in a hybrid manner, virtually and remotely as necessary and effective. Security Clearance Must have BPSS as a minimum. Additional T&Cs All expenses must be pre-agreed between the parties and must comply with the Cabinet Office (CO) Travel and Subsistence (T&S) Policy. All vendors are obliged to provide sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures so that the processing meets the requirements of GDPR and ensures the protection of the rights of data subjects. For further information please see the Information Commissioner's Office website https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-reform/overview-of-the-gdpr/ No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Approach and Methodology (e.g., timescales, sprint plans, demonstration that outputs are useful for Alpha) • Establishing User Needs (e.g., personas, user journeys) • Developing a Technical Solution (e.g., identification and assessment of potential solutions, making a recommendation that meets our needs) • Project Management (e.g. team structure and technical skills and experience, identification of risks, dependencies and mitigations) • Value For Money (e.g., how lessons learnt will deliver better value for this project) • Value alignment (e.g., demonstration of cultural fit) Cultural Fit Criteria • Detail how you will tackle economic inequality through the delivery of this contract, e.g. by creating opportunities for entrepreneurship, helping new organisations to grow, supporting economic growth or business creation • Detail how you will fight climate change through the delivery of this contract, e.g. by delivering addtional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract including working towards net zero • Detail how you will ensure you work in a way that is open, honest and constructive • Detail how you will work collaboratively within your team and with clients • Detail how your team will work in a user driven approach, using research and evidence to challenge underlying assumptions/present findings in a way decision makers can easily digest • Detail how you will transfer knowledge to the CHMM team Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Does the budget provided include or exclude VAT? The stated budget excludes VAT - i.e. budget is £181,500 + VAT. 2. What is the anticipated timeline for the entire procurement process? We expect the procurement process to be completed by early November. Provisional dates are set out below, noting these may be subject to change: - Shortlisted suppliers notified by 23rd September.- Shortlisted supplier written proposals to be submitted by 7th October.- Shortlisted supplier presentation held 13th and 14th October.- Contract awarded, subject to 10 days appeal process, by 21st October.- Final contract awarded w/c 7th November. 3. What is the expected timeline for the shortlisting and proposal phases, inc. shortlisted suppliers notified, proposals due, presentations held, winning supplier awarded? We expect the procurement process to be completed by early November. Provisional dates are set out below, noting these may be subject to change: - Shortlisted suppliers notified by 23rd September.- Shortlisted supplier written proposals to be submitted by 7th October.- Shortlisted supplier presentation held 13th and 14th October.- Contract awarded, subject to 10 days appeal process, by 21st October.- Final contract awarded w/c 7th November. 4. In skill 5 [‘Demonstrate your experience of developing options to deliver a service vision and analysing these options...], do you specifically mean the technical options (e.g. bespoke build or off-the-shelf products) and / or wider, non-technical options for the prospective service? The question asks the respondent to ‘demonstrate your experience of developing options to deliver a service vision and analysing these options to deliver a recommendation, including through the development of KPIs’. We would expect to see experience of technical options and wider non-technical options where these are relevant, for example if some aspects of the service are best achieved through manual processing. 5. When you say ‘through the development of KPIs’ in skill 5: do you mean the development/use of criteria (e.g. cost to build) to evaluate service options to then make a recommendation? Yes. The question asks the respondent to ‘demonstrate your experience of developing options to deliver a service vision and analysing these options to deliver a recommendation, including through the development of KPIs’. We would expect to see evidence of appropriate criteria/KPIs being developed and then used to evaluate options and deliver a recommendation. 6. For the question, “Demonstrate experience of conducting discovery research and developing the problem space for new service design, including how you conduct user research and your methodologies, in accordance with GDS/CDDO GOV.UK standards”, what do you mean by ‘problem space’ here and what answers are you looking for? References to ‘the problem space’ in the ‘essential skills and experience’ criteria 1 and 3, refers to the problem space of any given area in which bidders have conducted Discoveries rather than the ‘problem space’ of the CHMM specifically. We are looking for evidence of your ability to successfully conduct discovery research and define a problem space, including through the use of appropriate processes and methodologies.Working in the net zero or energy space, with heat pump and/or boiler manufacturers is not an essential criteria, but should be outlined in response to ‘nice-to-have skills and experience’ criteria 1, where applicable. 7. Could you kindly explain what do you mean by “exchange/trading platform” and what are the kind of examples expected for this question? The exact credit-trading mechanism of the CHMM is subject to further policy development and consultation. It is unlikely that we will choose to build a bespoke credit-trading platform for the Scheme, however the Scheme’s core database/register will likely need to reflect when trades of heat pump credits between parties have occurred (either on a separate exchange or in a bilateral transaction). Experience with trading/exchange platforms is therefore a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than ‘essential’ experience criterion. We are taking a broad definition of ‘trading/exchange platforms’, including private-sector exchange and auction platforms. 8. Where you refer to “the problem space” in e.g. Q1 and Q3, do you mean the problem space of any given area in which bidders have conducted their Discoveries, or do you mean the problem space specific to CHMM? References to ‘the problem space’ in the ‘essential skills and experience’ criteria 1 and 3, refers to the problem space of any given area in which bidders have conducted Discoveries rather than the ‘problem space’ of the CHMM specifically. Working in the net zero or energy space, with heat pump and/or boiler manufacturers is not an essential criteria, but should be outlined in response to ‘nice-to-have skills and experience’ criteria 1, where applicable. 9. Are suppliers permitted to use multiple examples in their answers? Yes, suppliers are permitted to use a maximum of two examples per answer, where this best captures their suitability. Please ensure that the number of examples is kept to the minimum needed to demonstrate suitability and relevant experience. 10. Could you please provide indicative timelines for Stage 2 of the procurement? We expect the procurement process to be completed by early November. Provisional dates are set out below, noting these may be subject to change:- Shortlisted suppliers notified by 23rd September.- Shortlisted supplier written proposals to be submitted by 7th October.- Shortlisted supplier presentation held 13th and 14th October.- Contract awarded, subject to 10 days appeal process, by 21st October.- Final contract awarded w/c 7th November. 11. Can you expand on what is meant by ‘trading/exchange platforms’ in the last question? Would it be suitable to bring in details on private sector trading / exchange platforms? The exact credit-trading mechanism of the CHMM is subject to further policy development and consultation. It is unlikely that we will choose to build a bespoke credit-trading platform for the Scheme, however the Scheme’s core database/register will likely need to reflect when trades of heat pump credits between parties have occurred (either on a separate exchange or in a bilateral transaction).Experience with trading/exchange platforms is therefore a ‘nice-to-have’ rather than ‘essential’ experience criterion. We are taking a broad definition of ‘trading/exchange platforms’, including private-sector exchange and auction platforms. 12. There are a number of user groups that have already been outlined, outside of the public consultation that was run on the CHMM, what other work has been done to understand user needs? Work on understanding user needs to date has mostly occurred through the public consultation and through stakeholder engagement conducted, before, during and since this consultation. We are hoping to gain a deeper understanding of user needs through this Discovery process, through continued engagement with relevant arm’s-length bodies, and through a second public consultation in the coming months. 13. When you mention the problem space, is it in opposition to looking at the solution space or are you referring to your specific “Problem to be solved” described in the opportunity? References to ‘the problem space’ in the ‘essential skills and experience’ criteria 1 and 3, refers to the problem space of any given area in which bidders have conducted Discoveries rather than the ‘problem space’ of the CHMM specifically. We are looking for evidence of your ability to successfully conduct discovery research and define a problem space, including through the use of appropriate processes and methodologies.Working in the net zero or energy space, with heat pump and/or boiler manufacturers is not an essential criteria, but should be outlined in response to ‘nice-to-have skills and experience’ criteria 1, where applicable. 14. Please can you expand on what you mean by “problem space”. Are you referring to any problem the supplier has solved or a problem specific to the Clean Heat market? References to ‘the problem space’ in the ‘essential skills and experience’ criteria 1 and 3, refers to the problem space of any given area in which bidders have conducted Discoveries rather than the ‘problem space’ of the CHMM specifically. We are looking for evidence of your ability to successfully conduct discovery research and define a problem space, including through the use of appropriate processes and methodologies.Working in the net zero or energy space, with heat pump and/or boiler manufacturers is not an essential criteria, but should be outlined in response to ‘nice-to-have skills and experience’ criteria 1, where applicable.