Awarded to Datavid Limited

Start date: Saturday 13 March 2021
Value: £600,000
Company size: SME

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)

MHCLG E-CLAIMS Technical Support and Development CPD4121006

5 Incomplete applications

3 SME, 2 large

2 Completed applications

2 SME, 0 large

• Published: Thursday 14 January 2021
• Deadline for asking questions: Thursday 21 January 2021 at 11:59pm GMT
• Closing date for applications: Thursday 28 January 2021 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

• Summary of the work: Technical support and development contract for E-CLAIMS.
• Latest start date: Monday 1 March 2021
• Expected contract length: 2 years
• Location: No specific location, for example they can work remotely
• Organisation the work is for: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
• Budget range: For the support element of the contract, we would expect a budget up to £600K for the two year term. Additional development work may be required and will be discussed dependent on budget approval, but could be up to a further £600K during the 2 year term.

About the work

• Why the work is being done: E-CLAIMS is a service used by MHCLG and the Department for Work and Pensions to administer funding from the European Commission. ; ; Applications to fund projects are expected to continue until the end of 2021. Projects will continue to be managed and claims paid out to grant recipients, until at least the end of 2024. ; ; E-CLAIMS and its business stakeholders will continue to be subjected to European audit requirements until the end of the agreed funding period. ; ; Audit requirements are continually refined, the closure process for the programme is still being determined and as such result in frequent requests to enhance the E-CLAIMS system.
• Problem to be solved: The key problems need to be solved, written as challenge statements for the relevant supplier are: ; ; How can we minimise the number of support tickets that are being created for the service by users, to ensure efficiency for internal staff and reduce any delays in payments to grant recipients? ; ; How can we minimise long-term support, and hosting costs, to provide MHCLG and DWP with good value for money? ; ; How can we reduce the duplicated reporting entry that is occurring for internal users, and increase the data needed by internal staff to report on the programme? ; ; How can we reduce the administrative burdens of internal staff and grant recipients, and help them be more efficient? ; ; How can we maximise the amount of funds eligible to be claimed back through European Commission Payment Applications? ; ; How can we continue to meet evolving European Commission audit requirements?
• Who the users are and what they need to do: As a grant recipient of European Structural Investment Funding, I need to be able to submit claims to MHCLG and DWP, so that I can receive money from my grant. ; ; As an applicant, I need to be able to understand and apply for a funding stream relevant to me, so that I can access European Structural Investment Funds. ; ; As an internal contract manager, I need to be able to assess and administer projects and funds from the programme. ; ; As an auditor, I need to review the information held within E-CLAIMS, so that I can assure the funding meets audit requirements and standards. ; ; As a management information team, I need to be able to report on data recorded within E-CLAIMS, to support audit activities and programme monitoring.
• Early market engagement: There has not been any early market engagement undertaken.
• Any work that’s already been done: Over the past eighteen months, a number of iterative improvements have been made to E-CLAIMS. These include: ; ; To resolve longstanding technical issues to reduce the number of support issues being raised by users ; ; Adjusting the certain workflows of the service, to help more users to resolve issues themselves ; ; Ensuring greater clarity and accuracy of financial values, terms and adjustments required as part of European audit requirements ; ; Improving the interface, performance and search options available to make the service more efficient for users.
• Existing team: From MHCLG Digital, a Product Manager and Delivery Manager will work daily with the team. The supplier, will also be working with at least two subject matter experts, from MHCLG and DWP, who help to triage and prioritise support tickets, acting as a type of first-line support function. ; ; Our current support team in an average month consists of a full-time Senior Developer, a Quality Assurance Engineer two days per week, and one day a week of a Technical Architect. ; ; Due to shared AWS and MarkLogic infrastructure of E-CLAIMS, they will need to collaborate with other suppliers.
• Current phase: Live

Work setup

• Address where the work will take place: Remotely, but also 2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF where conditions allow for a couple of days a week.
• Working arrangements: We would like the supplier to work in an agile way with us. The team are used to remote working practices, but if Covid-19 workplace restrictions reduced, we would like to co-locate with reps of the successful supplier where possible at least 2 days a week to have the opportunity for face-to-face meetings.
• Security clearance: For access to 2 Marsham Street, CTC level clearance is required. Any system administrator level role would require SC level clearance. Suppliers must state individual clearance level for staff proposed.

Additional information

• Additional terms and conditions: 1. All outputs will be owned by MHCLG and published openly where appropriate using a suitable open license that supports reuse. ; ; 2. All materials/outputs derived from the contract shall be the property of MHCLG. ; ; 3. GDPR requirements will be discussed and agreed once the successful supplier has been notified (as part of discussions to agree the wording of the call-off contract).

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:
  • Have MarkLogic Database knowledge/skills
  • Have NoSQL database architecture knowledge/skills
  • Have Orbeon Forms knowledge/skills
  • Have Xquery knowledge/skills
  • Have knowledge or evidence of using proven agile working methods
  • Have Jaspersoft reporting skills/knowledge
  • Have experience of EU funding and development services
• Nice-to-have skills and experience:
  • Have GDS Service Standards and the GDS Design System experience
  • Have experience of working in highly regulated environments

How suppliers will be evaluated

All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.

• How many suppliers to evaluate: 4
• Proposal criteria:
  • Technical stack fit
  • Approach and Methodology
  • Team structure/roles and time allocation
  • Team day rates, CVs & work history
  • Confirm security level clearance and location of staff proposed
  • value for money
  • development approach
  • NOTE:Pricing Scores for evaluation will be calculated assuming 21 working days per month of the roles below, these are for evaluation purposes only. Provide daily rates for each.
  • Senior Developer, Business Analyst, Quality Assurance, Second-Line Support, Junior Developer, Technical Architect, Delivery Manager.
  • Scoring Criteria for the Written proposal -Technical Competence and Cultural Fit will be scored individually using the following Criteria:
  • Score 0 = Failed to provide confidence that the proposal will meet the requirements. An unacceptable response with serious reservations.
  • Score 25 = A Poor response with reservations. The response lacks convincing detail with risk that the proposal will not be successful in meeting all the requirements.
  • Score 50 = Meets the requirements – the response generally meets the requirements, but lacks sufficient detail to warrant a higher mark.
  • Score 75= A Good response that meets the requirements with good supporting evidence. Demonstrates good understanding.
  • Score 100=An Excellent comprehensive response that meets the requirements. Indicates an excellent response with detailed supporting evidence and no weaknesses resulting in a high level of confidence
  • In the event of a tie the highest score in the Technical Competence section will be used to award
  • Presentation (estimated to take place early-mid February 2021)
• Cultural fit criteria:
  • Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers
  • Challenge status quo
  • Ability to manage challenging and diverse stakeholder needs
  • Share knowledge and experience with other team members
  • Worked in highly regulated and audited environments
• Payment approach: Capped time and materials
• Additional assessment methods:
  • Work history
  • Presentation
• Evaluation weighting:

  Technical competence

  40%

  Cultural fit

  10%

  Price

  50%

Questions asked by suppliers

• 1. Can you clarify the support hours? Business Hours 9am – 5pm Mon – Fri, 24x7?: Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm (business hours)