The Cabinet Office

EIP Digital Service Discovery - Online Absent Vote applications / Identity Verification

10 Incomplete applications

8 SME, 2 large

27 Completed applications

25 SME, 2 large

Published: Thursday 1 July 2021
Deadline for asking questions: Thursday 8 July 2021 at 11:59pm GMT
Closing date for applications: Thursday 15 July 2021 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

Off-payroll (IR35) determination: Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply
Summary of the work: This is workstream 1/3 of the Electoral Integrity Programme Digital Service Discovery. This Discovery seeks to identify service solutions to support changes implemented as part of the Elections Bill. Workstream 3, on identity verification, will focus on identifying and evaluating new identity verification approaches for digital application journeys.
Latest start date: Monday 30 August 2021
Expected contract length: 6-8 weeks
Location: London
Organisation the work is for: The Cabinet Office
Budget range: £60,000 - £100,000

About the work

Why the work is being done: The Cabinet Office Electoral Integrity Programme (EIP) will deliver key Government manifesto and ministerial commitments including the national roll out of voter identification; making it easier for overseas electors to vote; improving the transparency of political campaigning; measures to secure our democratic processes, improving the security of postal and proxy voting; and making polling stations more accessible. To deliver this transformational work, it is expected that the Cabinet Office will introduce substantial primary legislation into Parliament at the earliest opportunity. The Programme will run change projects concurrently to deliver substantial supporting secondary legislation, digital innovation and the infrastructure across the United Kingdom to support the successful delivery of the Government’s vision.

Discovery workstream 1,Identity Verification, will focus on identifying and evaluating new identity verification approaches for digital application journeys.
Problem to be solved: Digital discovery work is necessary to identify and refine proposed processes to enable us to work towards implementation of measures.

The discovery phase will be aimed at identifying and refining several options, allowing future decisions to be evidence based and driven by data. The discovery phase is essential to agile working, to enable refinement of options before money is spent building services.

The discovery should do the following as a minimum:
Identify the minimum viable product (MVP) for implementation of policy goals (including changes to local electoral management systems)
Recommend new processes/digital products based on analysis of the balance of elector accessibility, security, and administrative burden
Consider the needs of both electors and electoral administrators, gathering robust evidence from user research to inform recommendations.
Consider the offline/paper-based process in parallel to digital processes
Work within constraints (such as legal and system interoperability) to recommend solutions which deliver greatest benefits
Work closely with Electoral Integrity Programme teams: Digital, Business Implementation, Analysis, and Policy.
Who the users are and what they need to do: There are two key user groups:

Members of the public who are eligible to register to vote, and vote in a statutory poll in the UK. Electors can vote in polling stations, or by post or proxy.

Electoral administrators are individuals who work at local authorities to manage the electoral register and organise polls.
Early market engagement: None
Any work that’s already been done: None
Existing team: The Cabinet-Office EIP Digital team has 6 members;
Product-Lead,
Delivery-Manager,
Service-Designer,
2 Business-Analysts and
a User-Researcher.

Cabinet Office EIP is also supported by a wider team, which includes:
Constitution Group Analysis experts
Business implementation specialists
Policy officials
Legal advisors

IdentityVerification, is the first of three workstreams. All three workstreams will proceed in parallel once awarded.
Each work package will be assessed and awarded separately during procurement, dependent on supplier experience in areas within the scope of work, such as identity, and distributed service delivery.

Multiple suppliers for each requirement will be expected to work together on deliverables where appropriate.
Current phase: Not started

Work setup

Address where the work will take place: London
Working arrangements: The Supplier is expected to support the EIP Team during normal opening hours (Monday to Friday 08:00 to 18:00).

The work will be mainly remote but the London office will be a focal point for the EIP Project and CO may expect supplier staff to spend part of their time at any location designated by the buyer as required, including for workshops, meetings, collaboration, and team building.
Security clearance: BPSS or higher.
Clearance cost to be borne by the supplier.

Additional information

Additional terms and conditions

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: Demonstrable experience of leading Discovery activities

Conducting user research remotely

Qualitative analysis and Quantitative analysis techniques

Evaluation and recommendation of service design options based on user needs

Identifying hard to reach user groups and conducting research with those with accessibility needs
Nice-to-have skills and experience: Experience of distributed service delivery and design (with national and local components)

Experience of identity verification approaches

How suppliers will be evaluated

All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.

How many suppliers to evaluate

Proposal criteria

What is your proposed approach to conduct this discovery phase and define successful recommendations that will help us achieve our goal? (8%
How will you evaluate potential options/solutions based on user needs, and make recommendations to Cabinet Office on what to take forward to Alpha phase? (6%)
Detail your delivery roadmap and how your discovery will integrate into a wider programme as an example. (9%)
Detail the artefacts that will be delivered as part of the discovery output.(8%)
Detail how you will work within constraints (such as legal and system interoperability) to recommend solutions which deliver greatest benefits.(5%)
Detail any risks and assumptions that you have made in the presentation of your proposal. (5%)
CVs/biographies of the lead(s) assigned to the work (9%)
Social value commitment 10%

Cultural fit criteria

Collaboration with government teams and other suppliers whilst retaining accountability (5%)
Working in a fast paced and sensitive environment (5%)

Payment approach

Capped time and materials

Additional assessment methods

Case study
Presentation

Evaluation weighting

Technical competence

60%

Cultural fit

10%

Price

30%

Questions asked by suppliers

1. Does the budget range of £60,000 – £100,000 include or exclude VAT?: Excluding vat
2. You mention you may expect supplier staff to spend part of their time at any location designated by the buyer as required. Can you be more specific on what locations this could include?: London is the primary location. If there is to be another location, it may be York.
3. Is there an incumbent?: No, fresh assignment
4. Can the Authority please confirm whether delivering this piece of work would preclude the successful supplier from bidding for future packages of work on this programme?: No - any further work packages advertised on DOS will be open to any potential bidder
5. Will you consider a discovery that takes a few weeks longer than 6-8 weeks, if the proposal makes a compelling case for it?: We would prefer a discovery that is within the 6-8 week timeline due to the impact of any delays on our roadmap and related dependencies.
6. Can you please clarify the intent of setting this skill: ‘Experience of distributed service delivery and design (with national and local components)’? Are you asking for evidence of a Discovery delivery team engaging with service end users and stakeholders around the country?: We would like evidence of engagement and outcomes that address the challenges of national and locally distributed service design and delivery.
7. In the working arrangements section you mention the supplier is expected to support the EIP Team during normal opening hours (Monday to Friday 08:00 to 18:00). What are the expected number of working hours in a normal working day?: We would like suppliers to be available for our EIP team during the hours of 08:00 and 18:00, thereby allowing flexibility for the work concerned. Normal hours being 7.5hrs
8. Can the Authority please confirm whether there are specific roles or a specific knowledge gap(s) they are looking for the successful supplier to fulfil?: It is expected that the supplier will provide expertise in research and user centred design to support existing skillsets in the Cabinet Office team. Further details available in the detailed spec.
9. With reference to DOS opportunity “EIP Digital Service Discovery – Online Absent Vote applications / Identity Verification”, can the Authority please confirm if they have a preference for multiple suppliers to deliver these two pieces of work?: This opportunity is for one piece of work. Each workstream will be assessed on an individual basis, but suppliers are welcome to bid for both pieces of work.
10. As you have requested the same essential and nice to have criteria over the three different workstreams, will the same answers be sufficient if applying for all three? Or, will you require different answers for each?: We will be assessing each workstream independently and will not be comparing answers to other workstreams.
11. In one of the clarification questions already answered, the Authority made reference to “further details (being) available in the detailed spec” with regards to the specific role(s) suppliers will need to perform. We are unable to see any other attachments to this opportunity which provide that information. Can the Authority please clarify where this information can be found?: This information will be provided to shortlisted suppliers who are invited to the evaluation stage of the procurement
12. Would the Cabinet Office prefer only one supplier to deliver the work for all of the workstreams for the EIP Digital Service Discovery: We will be assessing each workstream independently and will not be comparing answers to other workstreams. There is no preference either way, and the responses will determine the outcomes.
13. How will the different workstreams be managed if different providers are delivering each piece of discovery?: The internal Cabinet Office team will provide management, direction and governance to suppliers working on the discovery pieces, ensuring cross team engagement occurs.
14. ou reference a “detailed spec” in Q8 answer – when will that be will shared with suppliers?: This information will be provided to shortlisted suppliers who are invited to the evaluation stage of the procurement.
15. Do you see any advantage or disadvantage in one supplier completing all three?: We will be assessing each workstream independently and will not be comparing answers to other workstreams.
16. What are the main drivers for running three discoveries rather than one longer one?: Workstreams must occur in parallel to meet overall programme timelines. Due to the complexity and scale of the work overall, we have split the work into packages which are more deliverable in the manner we need.
17. How will the different workstreams be managed if different providers are delivering each piece of discovery?: The internal Cabinet Office team will provide management, direction and governance to suppliers working on the discovery pieces, ensuring cross team engagement occurs.
18. In Q5 answer related to timeline you mention “related dependencies” – please can you describe these dependencies and the potential impact if deadlines aren’t met?: Dependencies are around other programme deliverables, such as the passage of the Elections Bill.
19. Do you have an active user group that we would have access to for research purposes?: Suppliers should assume that the scope of work delievered will include recruitment activities for electors.
20. What is the current level of buy in to the programme from Local Authority stakeholders /operators of local election management systems?: The scope of the discovery will include identifying solutions which successfully meet the needs of these stakeholders.

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