Contract notice
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Corporate Officers of the House of Lords and House of Commons
210715608
Parliament Square
LONDON
SW1A 0AA
UK
Contact person: Vix Gladwin
E-mail: pcd@parliament.uk
NUTS: UKI32
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.parliament.uk/
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.parliament.uk/
I.3) Communication
Access to the procurement documents is restricted. Further information can be obtained at:
https://atamis-ukparliament.my.site.com/s/Welcome
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent electronically to:
https://atamis-ukparliament.my.site.com/s/Welcome
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to the abovementioned address
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5) Main activity
General public services
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
GSV2667 - ICGS Helpline Support Services
Reference number: GSV2667
II.1.2) Main CPV code
72253000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
The Authority are seeking a single supplier to provide telephone and email telephone support services to investigate complaints of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct.
II.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT:
480 000.00
GBP
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKI32
Main site or place of performance:
Palace of Westminster
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) was established in 2018 as Parliament’s independent mechanism for investigating complaints of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct. It is open to all current and former members of the parliamentary community as well as visitors to the parliamentary estate in Westminster. For context, the ICGS service currently supports circa 10,000 staff including MPs, Peers and their staff as well as administrative staff across the House of Lords and House of Commons. This figure does not include visitors to the estate or contractors. An external supplier has been delivering a remote independent helpline to support those seeking advice on bullying and harassment and sexual misconduct issues since July 2020 and this notice invites organisations to express their interest in being considered for the new procurement competition. Those who express an interest will be requested to sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to be invited to a presentation to find out more about the contract. The Authority plans to publish the Contract Notice on Find a Tender in April 2024.Following consultation with stakeholders on the effectiveness of the current helpline in late 2023/early 2024 it has been decided to adopt a hybrid approach for the new contract which is currently being expanded on and will be detailed in the service specification. Stakeholders were asked to give their preference on 3 options as follows: i) a helpline which maintains total external independence, but with updated requirements on quality assurance and information sharing ii) moving all services in-house to be delivered by parliamentary staff iii) a hybrid model with some services being delivered externally and others being delivered collaboratively by an external supplier and in-house staff. There remains a strong desire for an externally delivered helpline acknowledging that it is a challenge for any external supplier to develop strong knowledge of the operational side of parliament. As a result of the consultation, the decision has been made to pursue option iii) a hybrid approach. The successful supplier will be expected to deliver bespoke services to support the ICGS including a dedicated helpline service with both telephone and email options for callers inquiring about bullying and harassment and sexual misconduct, as well as offering emotional support, where required. The service must take formal complaints from service users and forward them to the ICGS team for investigation. Additional personal support provided by Independent Sexual Violence Advocates (ISVA) must be available for any service user experiencing sexual misconduct. The service will be required from Monday to Friday 9.00am-6.00pm, excluding Bank Holidays, with an out of hours answerphone service with an expected response to calls which will be detailed in the specification.The contract will be for an initial term of two years with two optional one year extensions (2+1+1 maximum term of four years) and the projected cumulative expenditure is circa £480,000 assuming a contract of four years is taken up. Before being issued with the tender documents interested parties must sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA). The ITT will be issued on Friday 19th April around 2.00pm. Any party who has already signed and returned an NDA following the Prior Information Notice already published does not need to sign another NDA. Please contact Paul Younger to receive the NDA by email at – youngerpb@parliament.uk or alternatively contact pcd@parliament.uk.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents
II.2.6) Estimated value
Value excluding VAT:
480 000.00
GBP
II.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system
Duration in months: 48
This contract is subject to renewal: No
II.2.9) Information about the limits on the number of candidates to be invited
II.2.10) Information about variants
Variants will be accepted:
No
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Open procedure
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
No
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
Date:
18/04/2024
Local time: 12:00
IV.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted
EN
IV.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
Duration in months: 6 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)
IV.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders
Date:
20/05/2024
Local time: 12:00
Place:
Palace of Westminster
Information about authorised persons and opening procedure:
PCD
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement:
No
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Corporate Officers of the House of Lords and House of Commons
Parliament Square
LONDON
SW1A 0AA
UK
E-mail: PCD@Parliament.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.parliament.uk/
VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
Corporate Officers of the House of Lords and House of Commons
Parliament Square
LONDON
SW1A 0AA
UK
E-mail: PCD@Parliament.uk
Internet address(es)
URL: https://www.parliament.uk/
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
11/04/2024