UK SBS DDaT22463 Discovery for Help to Heat: Home Upgrade Grant– Consumer Led Route (HUG CLR)

Tender description

Summary of the work A discovery for a new phase of the Home Upgrade Grant, aimed at low-income households in off-gas-grid properties with EPCs Band D-G. The HUG CLR Team requires a report or statement of work with detailed recommendations and requirements needed to create a new service to administer the scheme. Expected Contract Length 10 weeks Latest start date Monday 20 February 2023 Budget Range £286,750 Excluding VAT. There is no commitment to spend the total value. Why the Work is Being Done The government’s ‘Help to Heat’ schemes receive £12 billion of combined funding and includes support to make sure homes are warmer and cheaper to heat. This includes the Home Upgrade Grant (HUG) for low-income households in off-gas-grid properties with EPC bands D-G within England. It provides support to install energy efficiency and clean heating measures. A future phase of HUG, the Consumer Led Route (HUG-CLR), would enable households to apply directly to receive support, with eligibility pre-screening, household surveys and installation works organised on behalf of the applicant. We need to research a new service to administer the scheme, supporting households to apply. The service will need to: • verify applicant eligibility; • schedule pre-installation surveys and installation of measure(s); • track progress of application and the installation of the measure(s); • allow installers and retrofit assessors/co-ordinators to track and receive payment for their respective work; • allow other parties such as the scheme administrator oversight of the process and outcomes; • integrate with other data services such as the Trustmark data warehouse – where accredited installers must upload detailed of the measures they have installed. Problem to Be Solved The discovery phase must produce a report or statement of work with detailed recommendations and requirements to create a new service for HUG CLR. The desired discovery outputs are: • a prioritised list of detailed requirements based on research, in the form of personas and user stories, service patterns and functional requirements; • well-researched and mapped out customer journeys for all users (i.e., scheme administrator, installer, etc.); • identification of constraints, risks and opportunities with accompanying management proposals. This must include technological, process, data, and legislative limitations; • design and development of a robust and scalable end-to-end service blueprint, including interactions with other systems (i.e., an assessment of the feasibility of service integrations), that meets user needs identified; • a resourcing profile, including current gap analysis with recommendations for required skills and expertise, team structure, governance, support, and processes (internal and external) to ensure delivery and maintenance of the service; • a detailed exploration of technical options. The outputs from the discovery will inform the specification for an invitation to tender (ITT) to procure for the full-service build. We require a detailed report and accompanying presentation showcasing findings, options, and clear recommendations. Who Are the Users Main users: 1. As a low-income household (owner occupier/tenant), I need to apply for support under HUG CLR via the service and confirm if I am eligible for support. So that I can then receive guidance and support throughout my journey to receive energy efficiency and clean heating upgrades in my property. 2. As a landlord to a low-income household, I need to apply for support under HUG CLR via the service and confirm if I am an eligible landlord. I will also need to provide a declaration on how many properties I own and how much government funding I have received. I need to be able to receive a quote for the cost of works and make a minimum 33% contribution of the total capital costs. 3. As an installer, retrofit assessor or coordinator, I need to use the service to access relevant details of the households that I am allocated. So that I can schedule appointments, record progress as the upgrades are identified, installed and quality assessed, and receive payment for my work. 4. As the scheme administrator, I need to access relevant information on the end-to-end process. So that I can monitor performance and report to BEIS. Early Market Engagement Not applicable Work Already Done No previous work has been undertaken specifically for HUG CLR. However, there has been work completed on other retrofit projects that would be made available to the supplier. The project will also be carrying out separate market engagement activity and behavioural research on potential applicants to the scheme. Findings will be made available with successful supplier, upon completion. Existing Team The supplier will be working with the HUG CLR project team in BEIS composed of policy, commercial and delivery professionals. We are expecting suppliers to use their expertise and experience to propose a team which has the optimal mix of roles and seniority to deliver the project in a cost-effective and efficient way. The contact details of the lead officials in each of these professions will be made available to the supplier team. Current Phase Discovery Skills & Experience • Demonstrate experience of researching and understanding user needs across the digital inclusion spectrum, including vulnerable consumers. (5%) • Demonstrate experience of communicating complex issues using clear and concise language, in both written and verbal formats, to a variety of audiences and expertise levels. (5%) • Demonstrate your team’s experience, using an example, of designing consumer-facing services to relevant digital service standards, illustrating knowledge of both front-end and back-end users and their respective customer journeys. (5%) • Demonstrate experience of rapidly developing and iterating findings in response to user research and new evidence, showcasing with examples the ability to work flexibly to respond to emerging information. (5%) • Demonstrate evidence of running a discovery phase, with clear goals and scope, identifying constraints, users, improvements, performance indicators and sharing learnings with clear recommendations produced. (5%) Nice to Haves • Experience with, or knowledge of, relevant stakeholders interacting with a government service (i.e., low-income householders, construction, and trade sectors). (2.5%) • Experience of researching, designing, or building government grant schemes in relation to energy retrofit services. (2.5%) Work Location Most of the team are currently based in London but it is expected this work could be completed remotely. However, if the need arises, the supplier’s team may need to travel to Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET for meeting/workshop(s). Travel expenses will not be reimbursed. Working Arrangments The supplier staff will be expected to be available during core working hours of the HUG-CLR team (Monday-Friday 09:00am-5:00pm). BEIS welcomes hybrid working, and remote working will be available throughout the project as officials from the BEIS project team are split across multiple locations including London (predominantly), Birmingham, and Manchester. BEIS uses Microsoft Teams for online meetings. BEIS would expect to hold weekly meetings with the supplier project team to discuss progress to date. This could comprise agile ceremonies as well as weekly update sessions for BEIS stakeholders, held via MS Teams. Security Clearance Members of the supplier project team must have BPPS security clearance as a minimum. Additional T&Cs No additional terms and conditions, standard DOS contract. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Describe the delivery approach and methodology you will apply to the discovery phase, including how you will communicate findings as this emerge to the project team. (6%) • Describe how the approach will achieve the objectives and intended outcomes, with adherence to all requisite standards. (6%) • Describe the team structure and how their technical skills and experience will be used to deliver the project effectively and efficiently, including optimised mix of roles and seniority. (6%) • Please provide a project plan to evidence how the work will be completed within the ten-week discovery timescale. (6%) • Please detail the risks and assumptions you have identified with the project and your proposals for mitigating actions for successful management. (6%) Cultural Fit Criteria • Detail how your team will adopt a user driven approach, using research and evidence to challenge underlying assumptions and present findings for decision makers to easily digest (2.5%) • Detail how your team will respond to change and work flexibly throughout the project. (2.5%) • Demonstrate how you will proactively engage with stakeholders to progress the project and communicate in an appropriate manner to the audience. (2.5%) • Detail your plan for taking ownership of the requirement (1.25%) • Demonstrate how you will ensure you work in way that is open, honest, and constructive. (1.25%) • Demonstrate how you will support the development of scalable and future-proofed new methods to modernise delivery and increase productivity. (10%) Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Could we request some information on the tech stack we will need to take into consideration for this project? Azure, C#, MVC, Next.JS, HTML, Javascript for external and PowerPlatform for internal processes 2. Are suppliers permitted to use multiple examples in their answers to questions? Yes, however please ensure that you keep within the stipulated word count available. 3. Could you please provide a high-level timeline for the remainder of procurement? Please refer key dates below and note that these are estimates and subject to internal evaluation and approvals. Deadline for suppliers to ask questions - 17th Nov 2022 by 11:59 pmDeadline for applications - 24th Nov 2022 - by 11:59 pm Send invitation to suppliers for 2nd stage (written proposal and presentation) - 19th –20th Dec 2022Deadline for written proposal - 9th Jan 2023 Estimated Award date - 3rd Feb 2023Latest start date - 20th Feb 2023 4. Would it be acceptable if we have experience researching/designing grant schemes in relation to other Government services outside of energy? Yes 5. Can you confirm the percentages in brackets after each question represent the total weighting of that answer in the overall evaluation? Yes, we can confirm that the percentages after the brackets is the weighting attributed to that question. 6. What roles do BEIS already have within the HUG-CLR project team? The HUG-CLR Project Team currently has commercial, delivery and policy professionals. 7. How much experience do the members of the HUG-CLR who will be involved have working on digital product discoveries? The HUG-CLR Project Team has a mix of seniority and experience, with varied levels of prior exposure to digital product discoveries. For the most of the members, this will be their first discovery exercise. 8. Do you have any existing partnerships or other channels to engage/talk to customers across user groups, particularly landlords and installers? There may be existing channels/partnerships but if any sharing is required or requested, this would need to be compliant with GDPR rules, and access cannot be guaranteed. 9. Can you name previous suppliers for other retrofit projects? Previously awarded suppliers are available on https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder. 10. Regarding ‘nice to have’ criteria around experience with grant schemes to deliver retrofit projects. Can you confirm that suppliers without this specific experience will not be disqualified, in line with DOS guidance? ie.”It is discriminatory to suppliers to state that they must have previous experience working in the public sector or within your specific industry.” Suppliers who do not have experience with retrofit grant scheme projects will not be disqualified. This is not a mandatory requirement for the project but is instead proposed as a 'nice-to-have' skill which is scored. 11. Will the successful supplier be able to bid for the future work? Yes 12. Technical options – does this mean digital service options or technical retrofit option? Suppliers are not expected to explore technical retrofit options. 13. Can you confirm the percentages in brackets after each question represent the total weighting of that answer in the overall evaluation? Yes, we can confirm that the percentages after the brackets is the weighting attributed to that question. 14. What roles do BEIS already have within the HUG-CLR project team?Please clarify what is meant by ‘verbal formats’ in the second Essential requirement? Please refer to the answer provided for question 6. 'Verbal formats' refers to how the supplier communicates complex issues in settings such as meetings. 15. Please clarify what types of user/stakeholder BEIS is expecting to see evidence of working with in the ‘construction and trade sectors’ for Nice-to-have requirement 2 Construction and trade sectors may include retrofit assessors, retrofit coordinator, surveyors and installers. 16. Could you please provide a timeline for shortlisting bidders, Stage 2 bidding and evaluation prior to contract start? Please refer to answer provided to question 3. 17. Where requirements specify ‘with an example’ or ‘with examples’ – should bidders take this to mean that the requirement needs only one example/multiple examples? Or will e.g. multiple examples be scored more highly for criteria marked ‘with an example’, criteria marked as ‘with examples’ be marked down for only including one etc? We require a singular example and we remind suppliers to adhere to the stipulate word count of 100 words. 18. please specify the indicative procurement timeline. Please refer to answer provided to question 3. 19. When will findings from the separate market engagement activity and behavioural research on potential applicants be finalised / made available to the successful supplier? Our market engagement activity and behavioural research will be ongoing throughout the project lifecycle, however, as interim findings are released these will be made available. 20. What phase is HUG currently in and are there any details you can provide on progress expected prior to HUG-CLR discovery kick off? Are there any subsequent impacts on the discovery or considerations to take note of? HUG is currently in delivery. We do not envisage any impacts on discovery from other phases of HUG. For more details on HUG, please see the following website: https://homeupgradehub.org.uk/ 21. Are there any other key users outside of scheme administrator, landlord, installer, retrofit assessor and applicants or will this need to be defined? What information exists currently on these users? We have identified the following additional users: BEIS, Quality Assurance (QA) Contractor, National Call Centre, TrustMark. More detail on these users will be available to successful shortlisted suppliers ahead of written proposal and presentation submission. 22. Do you have existing architecture designs / process flows available? No 23. Are there any key metrics you would want to focus on/prioritise when exploring technical options? The key metrics include accessibility, value for money and customer satisfaction. There will be a requirement to meet all requirements defined in the Service Manual and the Technology Code of Practice. 24. Is there any existing planning / budget associated with the full-service build which will impact the discovery in any way? Our delivery model assessment and the outputs from the discovery activity will inform the proposed budget for the full service build. 25. Would BEIS be able to support us to recruit retrofit installers, retrofit assessor or coordinator, scheme administrator, for research? Please refer to answer provided for question 8. Please refer to answer provided for question 8. 26. Would we be able to subcontract agencies to help recruit low-income residents and users to take part in the research? Yes subject to compliance with the conditions set out in Clause 1.5 of the DOS Core Terms framework schedules. 27. In addition to end-users, do you anticipate we need to age with any stakeholders or data-owners outside of BEIS who might own data or are interested in using the service? e.g. local authority, utility companies, distribute network operators, energy assessors? No 28. What’s the charging basis? Capped T&M or can we specify? The charging basis is Capped Time and Materials. 29. How to recruit low-income off-grid people. Would BEIS allow us to pay /subcontract a recruiting agency? Please refer to answer in question 26