Discovery phase of a service to maximise public engagement with the UK Town of Culture competition

Tender description

Pre-market engagement Formal market engagement and the publication of a preliminary market engagement notice has not been undertaken for this requirement due to the speed at which DCMS wishes to progress with procurement and subsequent delivery of the Discovery phase. Work done so far N/A Which phase the project is in Not started Existing team Senior Responsible Owner - Deputy Director, Creative Places and Libraries Service Owner and Contract Manager - Head of UK Town of Culture Programme, Creative Places and Libraries With support from DCMS DDaT specialists: Head of Product and Experience Address where the work will be done Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 100 Parliament Street, London, SW1A 2BQ Working arrangements No specific location (i.e., remote work is permissible). There may be some requirement to visit 100 Parliament Street for work activities (e.g., in-person meetings or “show and tells”). We use Google Meet and / or MS Teams for virtual meetings. Provide more information about your security requirements: Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) Latest start date 2026-01-28 Enter the expected contract length: 2 months Extension period: 1 month Special terms and conditions 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/ Special terms and conditions In accordance with the Framework Terms Intellectual Property Rights (other than copyright) for all reports, documents and other materials which are generated or acquired by the Contractor (or any of its sub-contractors or agents) (“the Contractor Materials”) in the performance of the Services shall belong to and be vested automatically in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. Write the term or acronym: Cultural infrastructure Write the term or acronym: DCMS Write the term or acronym: DDaT Write the term or acronym: UK ToC Are you prepared to show your budget details?: Yes Indicative maximum: 300000 Indicative minimum: 200000 Confirm if you require a contracted out service or supply of resource Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply Summary of work DCMS requires a supplier to run a Discovery phase of a service to maximise public engagement with the UK ToC competition. More information on the UK ToC competition can be found here (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-town-of-culture-competition-to-shine-a-spotlight-on-the-contribution-of-towns-that-tell-national-story). This may include a function to deliver a public ballot and / or an ability to capture how the public engages with cultural infrastructure. The department has not conducted any Pre-Discovery phase. To understand the feasibility of developing and delivering this solution, and how we can ensure that people who are unable to use digital and / or online channels are not excluded from participating, the department must undertake this phase. The appointed supplier will be expected to deliver validated user needs, design options with indicative costs and benefits, and an end of phase report. The department welcomes additional relevant outputs as indicated in a supplier’s bid. Consideration will need to be given to cyber security, data protection, and accessibility, as well as behaviour and democratic insights. Subject to the findings and outcome of the Discovery phase, DCMS will then decide whether to procure for Alpha and Beta phases where a service would be built. Where the supplied staff will work No specific location (for example they can work remotely) Who is the organisation using the products or services Department for Culture, Media and Sport Why the work is being done On 29 September 2025, the Secretary of State announced the UK ToC programme which will celebrate the contribution of towns in the UK’s national story through the UK Town of Culture competition. We believe there is an opportunity to enable the public to know that we see and value the contribution that towns make to our national story by maximising public engagement during the competitive stages (i.e., before the winning town is announced and the associated cultural programme starts). We believe a digital service may be the most likely intervention to meet the problem identified, and this may include a function to deliver a public ballot and / or an ability to capture how the public engages with cultural infrastructure. However, any digital solution must meet cyber security, privacy, and accessibility needs, as well as be user-friendly, engaging, exciting and host UK ToC branding. The UK Government does not frequently build and / or procure such digital solution(s) (i.e., the UK Government does not have a ready-made and / or customisable digital solution at present) and therefore we must conduct a Discovery phase to understand the feasibility of developing and delivering this intervention, and how we can ensure that people who are unable to use digital and / or online channels are not excluded from participating. We are also interested in understanding any other media / mechanisms by which we could achieve these objectives. The business problem you need to solve We believe there are three problems to be explored by the supplier: 1. How to create a safe and secure service to host content related to the UK ToC competition 2. How to understand the experience for users engaging with the UK ToC competition through the service, including whether and / or how a non-digital alternative can replicate the experience 3. How to understand the opportunities and risks present in hosting a public ballot, including those relating to user behaviour, and how they can best be addressed, and /or the opportunities and risks present in DCMS gathering wider insights on public engagement with the national story and / or cultural infrastructure First user type: Members of the public First user type: Neighbours and local communities First user type: UK ToC bidders First user type: DCMS officials and other government departments First user type: Devolved Governments Questions and Clarifications 1. Does the indicative budget include VAT? We have found buyers have different preferences when it comes to stage 1 DOS submission. Could the authority please confirm, for each question, whether you would prefer one example with more detail, or multiple examples with less detail. Excludes VAT We are content for suppliers to provide evidence relevant to the respective question - that can come from one or more examples that best demonstrate the ability to meet our requirements. Last Updated: 5 December 2025, 15:58 2. Please can you clarify if the proposed contract length is 2 months or 3 months. 2 months with the option for a 1 month extension. Last Updated: 5 December 2025, 15:56 3. For NTH1 - Experience with digital public engagement activity at scale, particularly inclusive, equitable and representative insight or opinion-gathering - is this referring to: a) the supplier's experience creating a digital service that engages with the public at scale? b) the supplier's experience engaging with the public at scale for a digital programme (e.g. via research, discovery etc)? We are content for suppliers to provide evidence of either or both experiences that best demonstrate the ability to meet our requirements. Last Updated: 5 December 2025, 15:52