Northgate Public Services UK Limited

NPS Blue Badge Managed Service

Blue Badge Managed Service provides local authorities with a fully managed remote processing service for the administration of blue badge applications.

Features

  • A dedicated local-rate phone number.
  • Postal and email address for each Local Authority.
  • Preparation, validation and electronic scanning of supporting proofs.
  • Active chasing of missing information and documentation via multiple routes.
  • Advisor-assisted telephone payments, compliant with PCI requirements and proven.
  • Secure destruction of expired Blue Badges.
  • Reconciliation and transfer of funds to a nominated account.
  • An optional telephone assessment service for mobility related applications.

Benefits

  • Timely and accurate processing of blue badge applications.
  • Reduced service cost.
  • Improved customer experience.
  • Detailed service reporting.
  • Improved service levels.

Pricing

£13.14 to £39.15 a unit

Service documents

Framework

G-Cloud 12

Service ID

1 7 8 8 8 8 9 7 4 4 2 5 4 5 1

Contact

Northgate Public Services UK Limited Northgate Public Services Frameworks Team
Telephone: 08452 700353
Email: frameworks@northgateps.com

Service scope

Software add-on or extension
No
Cloud deployment model
Private cloud
Service constraints
None
System requirements
Internet access

User support

Email or online ticketing support
No
Phone support
Yes
Phone support availability
9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
Web chat support
No
Onsite support
No
Support levels
Service is available 24x7, except for planned and emergency maintenance. Support response is available 09:00 and 17:30 each Business Day. This is included in pricing. NPS SaaS typically achieves 99.5% availability.
A Client Services Manager will be allocated to manage the on-going relationship. Cloud support engineers are allocated as appropriate to resolve technical issues.
The NPS SaaS Administrator can log a call 24x7 online. Upon receiving a Support Request, but within 4 working hours during Normal Business Hours, the call will be prioritised:
P1 (Critical): service unavailable to Authorised Users.
P2 (Medium): important business function unavailable for Authorised Users.
P3 (Low): important business function affecting proportion of Authorised Users
P4: advice, or problems affecting 1 or 2 Authorised Users
The Service Desk will contact the NPS SaaS Administrator to try and resolve issues. Where this is not possible, the issue will be escalated to a technical team.
NPS will use reasonable commercial endeavours to provide identification and resolution, obviation and/or mitigation of operational bugs or errors reported by the client in NPS SaaS in accordance with the following estimated target timescales:
P1 - 4 working hours.
P2- 12 working hours.
P3 - 24 working hours.
P4 - 72 working hours.
Support available to third parties
No

Onboarding and offboarding

Getting started
Following order placement the on-boarding process will typically include:
• Assignment of a Contract Manager to review your Service Schedule, establish key contacts and agree reporting format, content and frequency.
• Production and sign-off of operational project delivery plan.
• Customisation and configuration.
• Production of documentation, including customer letters.
Service documentation
Yes
Documentation formats
  • PDF
  • Other
Other documentation formats
  • MS Excel
  • MS Word
End-of-contract data extraction
Data will be extracted and transferred in a secure, mutually agreed format.
End-of-contract process
All on-boarding and off-boarding is included in the price.

Using the service

Web browser interface
Yes
Supported browsers
  • Internet Explorer 7
  • Internet Explorer 8
  • Internet Explorer 9
  • Internet Explorer 10
  • Internet Explorer 11
Application to install
No
Designed for use on mobile devices
No
Service interface
No
API
No
Customisation available
Yes
Description of customisation
Service parameters and filters can be customised to meet user requirements.
Service documentation can be customised by user.
Website content can be customised by user.

Scaling

Independence of resources
Each user has their own instance of the service so demand does not affect users.

Analytics

Service usage metrics
Yes
Metrics types
We provide monthly management information on service usage and outcomes, including:
Number of applications received.
Number of applications processed.
Applications refused.
Telephony statistics.
Website usage.
These are provided through monthly service reports and forms part of our service governance process.
Reporting types
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

Supplier type
Not a reseller

Staff security

Staff security clearance
Conforms to BS7858:2012
Government security clearance
Up to Security Clearance (SC)

Asset protection

Knowledge of data storage and processing locations
Yes
Data storage and processing locations
United Kingdom
User control over data storage and processing locations
Yes
Datacentre security standards
Supplier-defined controls
Penetration testing frequency
At least once a year
Penetration testing approach
‘IT Health Check’ performed by a CHECK service provider
Protecting data at rest
Physical access control, complying with another standard
Data sanitisation process
Yes
Data sanitisation type
Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
Equipment disposal approach
Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

Data export approach
Data exports will be completed via pre-defined reporting functionality.
Data export formats
CSV
Data import formats
CSV

Data-in-transit protection

Data protection between buyer and supplier networks
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)
  • Other
Other protection between networks
Private MPLS circuits or equivalent.
Data protection within supplier network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway
  • Legacy SSL and TLS (under version 1.2)

Availability and resilience

Guaranteed availability
Service availability target is 99.5%. Where the service fails to reach this standard service credits and reimbursement of fees will be on a case by case basis.
Approach to resilience
NPS has dual data centres in two separate geographical locations, so if one data centre is affected we can failover to our secondary data centre. More information is available on request.
Outage reporting
Outages will be treated as a Major Incident (MI) and managed by the ISO20000:2018 certified process. A named user will receive an email and SMS message notifying them of the status of the MI until resolution. The incident will also be logged on the Service Desk system where the status is also visible to the user.

Identity and authentication

User authentication needed
Yes
User authentication
  • Limited access network (for example PSN)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password
Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels
Separate networks are used for users, and for support and management purposes. These are logically separated using vlans and firewalls. All management and support staff have access via the management network and end users are excluded.
Access restriction testing frequency
At least once a year
Management access authentication
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

Access to user activity audit information
Users have access to real-time audit information
How long user audit data is stored for
User-defined
Access to supplier activity audit information
Users receive audit information on a regular basis
How long supplier audit data is stored for
User-defined
How long system logs are stored for
At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

ISO/IEC 27001 certification
Yes
Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001
BSI
ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date
28/03/2018; valid until June 2021. Certificate IS 598449.
What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover
The NPS Information Security Management System (ISMS) is registered to ISO 27001:2013 and therefore audited by BSI at least annually. All NPS staff are required to comply with the ISMS.
ISO 28000:2007 certification
No
CSA STAR certification
No
PCI certification
No
Other security certifications
Yes
Any other security certifications
Cyber Essentials Plus

Security governance

Named board-level person responsible for service security
Yes
Security governance certified
Yes
Security governance standards
ISO/IEC 27001
Information security policies and processes
All of our services and processes are carried out in compliance with our ISO27001:2013 certified Information Security Management System (ISMS). The ISMS is supported by a comprehensive set of standards and policies. All staff undertake mandatory annual security and data protection awareness training to ensure they are familiar at all times of the importance of operating in a secure manner and of the policies in place.
The NPS Senior Information Risk Owner (SIRO) operates at board level and has overall responsibility and accountability for all aspect of security governance. The SIRO is supported by an Information Security Steering Group (ISSG) which is headed by the Security Director and has representatives from all areas within the organisation. The ISSG is responsible for agreeing policies with the SIRO and ensuring they are implemented across the business.
An operational Security Working Group (SWG) is responsible for managing any incidents that may occur and in an advisory capacity to provide advice and guidance to the organisation.

Operational security

Configuration and change management standard
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Configuration and change management approach
We have an ISO20000:2018 certified service management system. The components of the service are created as Configuration Items and added to our Configuration Management Database when the Change Request has been completed. As part of the Change Management Process, when future Changes affect the components our CMDB is updated accordingly throughout the lifetime, up to and including decommissioning and disposal.
We hold a weekly Technical Change Advisory Board, which is attended by at least one member of the Security Team, who will assess any security implications.
Vulnerability management type
Supplier-defined controls
Vulnerability management approach
We have Symantec Endpoint Protection anti-virus software installed that assesses potential threats to our services. We deploy patches to our services in a timely manner. Critical security patches are applied as soon as possible, and all other patching is done on a quarterly cycle. Our Security Team has signed up to various security alert subscriptions,that alert us to potential threats that may affect our services.
Protective monitoring type
Supplier-defined controls
Protective monitoring approach
We use the protective monitoring tool LogRhythm to identify potential compromises. We have a team of Security Administrators who regularly review the audit logs and take relevant action.
When a potential compromise has been identified, it is reviewed by the Security Team and an investigation is carried out. This may result in a Major Incident or a Service Change being raised, and these are managed in accordance with the relevant process.
Speed of incident response is dependent on the severity, any critical incidents are prioritised and an emergency remedial plan will be put in place.
Incident management type
Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
Incident management approach
Incident Management is part of our ISO20000:2018 certified Service Management system.
All incidents are handled within the same process. Users report incidents through the Service Desk, and a Security Incident document is then raised. This is reviewed by the Security Team and is managed in accordance with the Incident Management Process.
At regular times Incident Reports are provided to the user, and once the Incident is closed a full report is produced which is used to identify any lessons learnt.

Secure development

Approach to secure software development best practice
Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed

Public sector networks

Connection to public sector networks
Yes
Connected networks
Public Services Network (PSN)

Pricing

Price
£13.14 to £39.15 a unit
Discount for educational organisations
No
Free trial available
No

Service documents