Department for Education

DfE Service Delivery Capability- South England

18 Incomplete applications

17 SME, 1 large

36 Completed applications

23 SME, 13 large

Published: Monday 17 August 2020
Deadline for asking questions: Monday 24 August 2020 at 11:59pm GMT
Closing date for applications: Monday 31 August 2020 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

Summary of the work: We are looking for Service Delivery capabilities, to work alongside our in-house digital teams and other suppliers, to manage the development, delivery and communication of effective, user-focused digital services, taking products from vision to delivery by engaging with the users, teams and stakeholders across DfE and wider.
Latest start date: Monday 12 October 2020
Expected contract length: Up to 2 years
Location: South East England
Organisation the work is for: Department for Education
Budget range: A pipeline of activity is foreseen over the next 24 months, with an indicative budget against the requirements for this capability being £2.5m, but that scope could expand or contract.
Budget approval is subject to Cabinet Office spending controls, service assessments and DfE governance.
The department reserves the right to use any of the DOS pricing methodologies in any SoW (fixed price, capped T&M, or T&M).
Each SoW will outline the work required and the associated budget, suppliers will need to provide clear costs to enable tracking.
DfE does not commit to any minimum or maximum spend at this point.

About the work

Why the work is being done: We are looking for Service Delivery Capability to work alongside our in-house digital teams and other suppliers, working with us to build digital services, as part of department's digital transformation of services, user needs and in line with government service standards.
Specifically focussing on leading, managing and developing teams, products and communications, suppliers will need to be capable of supporting a range of projects from inception through to live, delivering projects for;
- Teachers
- Parents
- Students
- Education advisors
- School administrators
- People that deliver children’s services
- DfE staff
We anticipate 5-8 projects at any time.
Problem to be solved: Supporting a range of user led digital projects in London and South East, from inception through to live. Digital Directorate are looking for a supplier to work with blended teams across the department to deliver outcomes based on user needs and government service standards.

This contract for Service Delivery will support the capability gaps within teams who are delivering digital transformation projects across the department.

DfE have an ambitious transformation delivery plan over the next 24months. For example, Service Delivery will support projects that will enable Social Workers to spend more time with families or putting the structures in place to improve adult learning.

We anticipate 5-8 projects running at any time, however, each project may not require a full complement of Service Delivery capabilities.
Who the users are and what they need to do: Teachers
Parents
Students
Education advisors
School administrators
People that deliver children’s services
DfE staff

For example,
As a school leader I need to know more about funding opportunities so that my school can apply for relevant grants
As a parent, I need to understand how to apply for financial support for my child
As a student, I need to know how to apply for financial support for my myself
As a Social Worker I want to spend more time directly supporting children and families so that I can offer an improved service
As a Senior Responsible Officer for a project,
I need agile capability to provide delivery management, remove blockers to progress and monitor teams
I need agile coaching to establish and embed an agile environment required for optimal delivery
Early market engagement: Not applicable
Any work that’s already been done: The Department has already started its digital transformation journey. As a result, digital techniques are being used to deliver services such as The National Skills Fund Apprenticeships, Apply to be a Teacher, Apply is in Beta Build - https://www.apply-for-teacher-training.education.gov.uk/ and Teacher Vacancies is in Public Beta - https://teaching-vacancies.service.gov.uk/, Fostering and Adoption, School Performance Tables, and the Early Careers Framework.

In addition, Service Delivery has played a part in delivering https://getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/
Existing team: You will work with internal DfE staff from a range of disciplines, including architecture, security, policy, user experience, service design, finance and commercial .

The current incumbent for the Service Delivery capability in London and the South East are Engine Partners UK

The successful supplier will be expected to collaborate or work with other suppliers who are providing capabilities as part of a team.
Current phase: Not applicable

Work setup

Address where the work will take place: ‘For the duration of restrictions on movement due to COVID-19, all teams are expected to work and collaborate remotely.

The primary base will be detailed in each Statement of Work (SoW) and expenses will not form part of the cost unless the supplier is asked to work from a secondary location instead e.g. If SoW primary base is in London then no expenses will be paid for London.

This contract is to cover the South East, primarily London, Coventry & Cambridge.

Travel may be required to other DfE offices nationwide.’
Working arrangements: A Statement of Work will be completed, which will identify the base location, the expected working arrangements, and outline the outcomes and deliverables expected for each engagement.

The existing DfE digital team comprises of lead roles in Product and User Research, as well as other digital capabilities along with stakeholders from our finance, HR and legal services teams.

To improve DfE internal capability, build and support the applications/services, knowledge transfer back into DfE will be a requirement for each work package.

We anticipate a maximum of 5-8 concurrent engagements at any one time.
Security clearance: DfE requires all supplier staff to have baseline personnel security standard clearance (BPSS).
There may be a requirement for some of the work to require security clearance checks, where this is needed it will be detailed in the Statement of Work.

Additional information

Additional terms and conditions: Standard Framework and Call Off Terms and Conditions.
Expenses must be pre-agreed and comply with CCS Travel and Subsistence Policy.
Any expenses shall be submitted in line with DfE standard T&S policy. Primary work location stated in SoW will not attract expenses.
Contract and Vendor Management will form a key part of governance and suppliers will be expected to co-operate in a manner that fosters healthy working relationships and quality delivery.

Suppliers must provide sufficient guarantees to meet the requirements of GDPR in line with Procurement Policy Note 03/17 Changes to Data Protection Legislation & General Data Protection Regulation

Skills and experience

Buyers will use the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience to help them evaluate suppliers’ technical competence.

Essential skills and experience: Demonstrate end-to-end delivery of high quality digital services in a public or third sector environment

Evidence of agile development and delivery using CI/CD techniques

Demonstrable experience designing services using user-centred design methodologies

Experience moving a product successfully through different lifecycle phases

Proven experience working collaboratively in a complex, multi-vendor environment
Nice-to-have skills and experience: Provide insight, structure, guidance and support to digital delivery programmes,

Advocate for the importance of agile, iterative and user-focused delivery, as set out in the Government Service Manual

Proven experience prioritising user needs (using qualitative and quantitative data) with the team and incorporating user needs

How suppliers will be evaluated

All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.

How many suppliers to evaluate

Proposal criteria

Demonstrable delivery of digital products and services to government service standards
Evidence of ability to deliver using agile methodology in environments where digital maturity varies
Delivery of digital services/products using each of the service delivery capabilities
Demonstrate ability to scale and be flexible in deploying to meet organisational needs
Evidence of approach used to make complex and technical concepts and language simple and accessible for non-technical audiences

Cultural fit criteria

Experience of working with an organisation at the beginning of an agile culture change
Experience of effective collaboration with multiple stakeholders to achieve a single objective
Experience of transferring knowledge to and building capability of permanent staff within a client organisation
Understands how to be part of a multidisciplinary, agile service team

Payment approach

Capped time and materials

Additional assessment methods

Case study
Work history
Reference
Presentation

Evaluation weighting

Technical competence

50%

Cultural fit

20%

Price

30%

Questions asked by suppliers

1. 18/08/20 Can you advise which roles this work covers, is it every possible role on a cross-functional delivery team?: This opportunity is to cover the roles included as part of the Service Delivery Capability as set out on the Digital Marketplace –
Agile coaching
Help individuals, teams and managers to be effective by embedding an agile culture.
Agile delivery
Support the delivery team by removing blockers to progress, facilitating discussion and helping the team to self-organise without imposing how work is done.
Business analysis
Specify, collect and present performance data and analysis for a product or service.
Digital communication and engagement
Develop or deliver a communications plan for a service or product which engages users across many channels.
2. 18/08/20 Can you advise which roles this work covers, is it every possible role on a cross-functional delivery team?: Additional Roles:

Product management
Lead the delivery and continuous improvement of one or more digital products or platforms.
Programme management
Manage and organise groups of related projects so they work together to achieve a strategic objective.
Project management
Motivate and manage a team, and plan and prioritise work to achieve project objectives.
Service management
Develop and deliver an effective user-focused digital service. Manage the full product lifecycle including user research, design, delivery and the continuous improvement of one or more transactional services or platforms.
3. Hi, can you confirm if there is a current incumbent providing this service currently please?: The current incumbent for the Service Delivery capability in London and the South East are Engine Partners UK
4. Is there an incumbent supplier for any of the work in scope?: The current incumbent for the Service Delivery capability in London and the South East are Engine Partners UK
5. Please can you confirm that this engagement falls outside of IR35.: As with all DOS opportunities the work packages will provide the outcomes required and will be outside of IR35
6. What technologies have been used by the incumbent to deliver the services to date?: DfE digital's technology stack and approach consists of the following elements:
Microservices architecture, with internal and public facing HTTP and JSON REST based APIs for business logic and data access.
User facing websites are built using Ruby on Rails, and deployed to the DfE Azure platform and GOV.UK PaaS. Code hosted in the DfE Digital Github.
Databases to be one of the provided managed databases on DfE Azure or GOV.UK PaaS such as Postgres.
DfE Digital Technical Guidance: https://dfe-digital.github.io/technical-guidance/
7. How much of the work do you expect to be technical development work, as opposed to managing delivery?: This opportunity is to provide Service Delivery Capabilities, as such there is no expectation of technical development work
8. Could you confirm the identified technologies for this engagement please?: DfE digital's technology stack and approach consists of the following elements:
Microservices architecture, with internal and public facing HTTP and JSON REST based APIs for business logic and data access.
User facing websites are built using Ruby on Rails, and deployed to the DfE Azure platform and GOV.UK PaaS. Code hosted in the DfE Digital Github.
Databases to be one of the provided managed databases on DfE Azure or GOV.UK PaaS such as Postgres.
DfE Digital Technical Guidance: https://dfe-digital.github.io/technical-guidance/
9. Is there any current suppliers providing service delivery capability to DfE?: The current incumbent for the Service Delivery capability in London and the South East are Engine Partners UK
10. This contract for Service Delivery will support the capability gaps within teams who are delivering digital transformation projects across the department. Can you share the capability gaps please?: DfE continue to recruit for digital specialists to support delivery across the department. There continues to be a need for these capabilities in project teams. These capability gaps include

Agile coaching
Help individuals, teams and managers to be effective by embedding an agile culture.

Agile delivery
Support the delivery team by removing blockers to progress, facilitating discussion and helping the team to self-organise without imposing how work is done.

Business analysis
Specify, collect and present performance data and analysis for a product or service.

Project management
Motivate and manage a team, and plan and prioritise work to achieve project objectives.
11. This contract for Service Delivery will support the capability gaps within teams who are delivering digital transformation projects across the department. Can you share the capability gaps please?: Additional capability gaps include:

Digital communication and engagement
Develop or deliver a communications plan for a service or product which engages users across many channels.

Product management
Lead the delivery and continuous improvement of one or more digital products or platforms.

Programme management
Manage and organise groups of related projects so they work together to achieve a strategic objective.

Service management
Develop and deliver an effective user-focused digital service. Manage the full product lifecycle including user research, design, delivery and the continuous improvement of one or more transactional services or platforms
12. 1. Who’s in the incumbent and how long they have been the incumbent? 2. Who's on the panel?: The current incumbent for the Service Delivery capability in London and the South East are Engine Partners UK who were awarded the contract in September 2019.

The panel will comprise of civil servant digital specialists who work across the department delivering Service Delivery capabilities.
13. How does this opportunity relate to your earlier contract https://www.digitalmarketplace.service.gov.uk/digital-outcomes-and-specialists/opportunities/12199 – how will you decide which piece of work is allocated to which of these two contracts?: This opportunity will provide Service Delivery capabilities as and when they are needed to support projects across the department delivered through blended teams.
The Digital Transformation Pipeline contract, DOS Opportunity 12199, will bring in teams of people to deliver phases of agile methodology (Disco, Alpha, Beta). This opportunity will at times support these teams with service delivery capabilities if required.
14. We note the requirement that "Suppliers must provide sufficient guarantees to meet the requirements of GDPR in line with Procurement Policy Note 03/17 Changes to Data Protection Legislation & General Data Protection Regulation" https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-policy-note-0317 states "this now out of date. Please refer to PPN 02/18" Can the Authority confirm which Policy Note will apply?: Suppliers must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) May 2018; the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018, the Law Enforcement Directive and any subsequent amendments/changes to date including providing sufficient guarantees to meet the requirements of GDPR in line with Procurement Policy Note (PPN) 02/18 May 2018 which updates and replaces PPN 03/17
15. Can you confirm whether DfE will supply DfE tech for accessing systems or whether we will be required to use our own?: DfE support a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ pilot. The department will also provide the necessary licences and hardware that may be required in addition to this offer, so that capabilities brought in through this opportunity are able to deliver digital outcomes.
16. Can you advise whether you anticipate the processing of any personal data to be required?: This opportunity will provide capabilities for digital projects across the department. As such we are unable to provide an explicit response to the possibility of processing personal data. If this is a requirement it will be set out in each SoW.
17. If the processing of personal data is required, can breach of the data processing clauses can be brought within a liability cap?: DfE would be happy to consider a discussion about liabilities with suppliers
18. The various response questions allow for a 200 word response, within these responses are we able to link to short videos or case studies?: DfE would prefer that suppliers submit applications using the maximum number of words permitted and do not link to short videos or case studies.
19. Your essential criteria include evidence of CI/CD techniques but you have said there is no technical work in the outcome. Are you interested more in the management of agile service delivery with CI/CD at its heart or interested in knowledge: DfE are looking for a supplier who are able to deliver agile service delivery whilst developing teams in both delivery and technique.
20. Your essential criteria include evidence of CI/CD techniques but you have said there is no technical work in the outcome. Are you interested more in the management of agile service delivery with CI/CD at its heart or interested in knowledge of CI/CD techniques e.g. tooling, how to build a delivery pipeline etc.?: DUPLICATE QUESTION SEE ANSWER ABOVE
21. Can you clarify what you mean by 'end-to-end delivery' in this context? You have said that the outcome doesn't involve technical work so what aspects of end-to-end delivery are you interested in?: DfE are looking for roles which sit within this capability that can deliver service delivery during any of the phases of digital delivery.
22. You ask for evidence of "Demonstrable experience designing services using user-centred design methodologies" but none of the roles in your clarifying responses cover UCD disciplines. Can you clarify what sort of evidence you are looking for?: DfE are looking for suppliers who will provide Service Delivery capabilities which will work with blended teams. All roles within digital teams must have a clear understanding of designing services for users, as such this criteria is seeking to find out if suppliers have a clear understanding of UCD methodologies
23. Are you looking for delivery teams (standalone or cosourced with DfE), or individuals to fill gaps on DfE teams?: This opportunity will be seeking to engage Service Delivery capabilities for teams across the department. A SoW will be completed to define the work package, this could be individuals or could be a team (roles included in the Service Delivery capability)
24. For the requirement to "Develop or deliver a communications plan for a service or product which engages users across many channels" do you mean marketing and campaigns (e.g. creative, copy, media buying) or stakeholder engagement and comms?: DfE are looking for suppliers who will be part of developing or delivering plans that include the required communications dependant of the service or product that is being delivered. This could be stakeholder engagement and comms or marketing and campaigns.

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Awarded to Engine Partners UK LLP (The Engine Group)