Critical Timescales
- Contract notice and ITT pack published – Friday, 21st October 2022.
- Deadline for asking clarification questions – 5pm, Monday 7th November 2022.
- Deadline for CCS to provide responses to clarifications – 5pm, Wednesday 16th November 2022.
- Bid submission deadline – 3pm, Monday 21st November 2022.
- Issue of intention to award notices to bidders – Tuesday 11th April 2023.
- Framework start date – Tuesday 25th April 2023.
Registering on the Portal
The full contract notice can be found at: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029712-2022?origin=SearchResults&p=1. To access the documents and upload your tender responses, you will need to register on the bravo solutions portal: https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html.
Once you have registered, you will need to log in and search the link “ITTs Open to All Suppliers” for RM6277 Non Clinical Staffing, and then click the blue button to “express interest”. This will take you into the portal and you will then be able to access all the documents by clicking the Buyer Attachments tab.
Clarification Questions
Questions, clarifications and queries must be asked using the facility on the “eSourcing Suite” any time up until the deadline of 5pm Monday 7th November 2022.
Try to ensure the question is specific and clear, and don’t include your company’s identity in the question as the question and corresponding answer will be published for all bidders to see. Check regularly for messages in your message inbox to ensure you pick up the answers to all questions that have been asked in good time.
Framework
This will be a multi-supplier framework for provision of non-clinical temporary and fixed term roles across public sector organisations across the UK. A full list of organisations who can purchase under this agreement is provided in the document entitled “Customer List – RM6277” which can be downloaded from the eSourcing Suite.
Please note that winning a place on the framework does not guarantee you any business – it is just a “right to supply” and you will need to complete mini-competitions and undertake business development activity post framework award to turn this into tangible business.
This framework covers temporary (where candidates are supplied as temporary workers on an hourly or daily charge rate) and fixed term (where candidates are employed by the Buyer for a fixed period).
Contract Duration
The framework will be established for a period of 48 months with no option to extend.
Lots & Previous Supply Qualifying Criteria
PLEASE NOTE *The minimum total number of hours required for each of the lots must fall into a period of 12 consecutive months within the last 3 years (since 21st October 2019). If you cannot demonstrate that you meet this minimum threshold your bid will not be successful. You will be required to list your clients together with the number of hours billed to them within the set 12 month period as part of your bid and you may be audited on this..
If you are bidding for Lot 7, you will also have to provide “Certificates of Past Performance” (Attachment 2c) for the top two clients listed on Attachment 2b, providing contract and the buyer’s contact details to enable the Authority to validate the hours you have specified.
Lot 1 – Admin & Clerical
65 agencies to be awarded
Evidence of *110,000 hours within a 12 month period during the last 3 years required.
Lot 2 – Corporate Functions
110 agencies to be awarded
Evidence of *80,000 hours within a 12 month period during the last 3 years required.
Lot 3 – IT Professionals
85 Agencies to be awarded
Evidence of *80,000 hours within a 12 month period during the last 3 years required.
Lot 4 – Legal
20 Agencies to be awarded
Evidence of *20,000 hours within a 12 month period during the last 3 years required.
Lot 5 – Scientific, Technical & Clinical Coding
20 Agencies to be awarded
Evidence of *10,000 hours within a 12 month period during the last 3 years required.
Lot 6 – Estates, Facilities Management & Anciliary Staff
65 Agencies to be awarded
Evidence of *75,000 hours within a 12 month period during the last 3 years required.
Lot 7 – MSP – Master/Neutral Vendor
20 Agencies to be awarded
Evidence of *1,000,000 hours within a 12 month period during the last 3 years required. You also need at least 2 customers where you can demonstrate *200,000+ hours each to qualify for this lot.
Locations
You will be required to specify where you can supply by region in Attachment 2d. You do not have to be able to supply to every county within a region. This is for information only and will not be scored.
Insurances
You must have or agree to get the following insurances:
- Employer’s Liability – £10 million
- Public Liability – £10 million
- Professional Indemnity – £5 million
Cyber Essentials
You must be able to answer “Yes” to one of these two statements (this is a pass/fail criterion):
- You have a current and valid Cyber Essentials certificate which has been awarded by one of the government approved Cyber Essentials accreditation bodies within the most recent 12 months and where your organisation proposes to use key subcontractors to carry out the services and these key subcontractors shall be involved in handling sensitive and personal information with regard to the services, such key subcontractors will have in place a valid Cyber Essentials certificate by the framework commencement where your organisation proposes to use the key subcontractor, OR;
- You do not have a current and valid Cyber Essentials certificate which has been awarded by one of the government approved Cyber Essentials accreditation bodies but you are working towards gaining it, and will be in a position to confirm that you have been awarded a current and valid Cyber Essentials certificate by one of the government approved accreditation bodies, by the framework commencement date and where your organisation proposes to use key subcontractors to carry out the services and these key subcontractors shall be involved in handling sensitive and personal information with regard to the services, such key subcontractors will have in place a valid Cyber Essentials certificate by the framework commencement date where your organisation proposes to use the key subcontractor.
Financial Viability Risk Assessment – All Lots
For Lots 1-6:
- You will pass the financial assessment automatically if you have a Dun & Bradstreet financial risk score of 40 or above.
- If your financial risk score is 39 or below or you do not have a credit score, you will need to complete Attachment 5b – Financial Viability Risk Assessment Tool which will then be assessed by the Authority.
For Lot 7:
- You will need to complete the Financial Viability Risk Assessment Tool (Attachment 5a) which will be assessed by the Authority.
Carbon Reduction Plan – Lot 7 Only
Lot 7 only – you are required provide a link to the Carbon Reduction Plan on your website which contains the minimum information required as specified within Attachment 2e. If you do not have a website where this can be evidenced you must provide an electronic copy of your Carbon Reduction Plan in alignment with PPN 06/21 (unless you are a new supplier who has been trading for less than 12 months in which case you must still confirm your commitment to achieving Net Zero by 2050 and publish your full Carbon Reduction Plan as soon as possible).
Apprenticeship Evidence – Lot 7 Only
You must have in place, prior to the framework commencement date, an Apprenticeship/Current Skills Process that can demonstrate commitment to supporting, developing and maintaining skills required. Whilst this is a yes/no pass/fail question, you may be required to provide evidence prior to framework commencement.
Other Requirements – All Lots
- You must provide an electronic booking system which is available 24/7/365 from commencement of the contract. You must also provide a telephone booking service with a dedicated number which is fully available between 8.00am and 6.00pm and an out of hours service which is available between 6.00pm and 8.00am.
- You must provide a dedicated Compliance Manager with responsibility for ensuring that all checks have been undertaken correctly for each worker:
- For NHS Buyers you must carry out full checks in line with NHS Employers Standards.
- For Central Government Buyers, temporary workers must be compliant with the requirement specified in the Cabinet Office Baseline Personnel Security Standard.
- Ensure the worker/candidate has sufficient competence in English language and undertaken set English language testing where appropriate.
- You must conduct an annual appraisal with all temporary workers and maintain a record of the outcome of the appraisal in writing.
- The CCS will charge all successful suppliers a management fee of 0.75% of all sales so this needs to be considered when calculating your pricing.
Evaluation – All Lots
Non-compliant bids – these will be rejected immediately and you will be excluded from further competition.
Selection Stage (Attachment 2a) – this will be a pass/fail based on your technical, professional and financial capabilities.
Award Stage – this comprises answering mandatory questions on the portal and attaching the pricing (Attachment 3). Evaluation is as follows:
- For Lots 1-6 weighting is broken down with 10 marks for quality evaluation, 10 marks for social value and 80 marks for pricing.
- For Lot 7 weighting is broken down with 50 marks for quality evaluation, 10 marks for social value and 40 marks for pricing.
Brunton Bid Writing Services
TO OUTSOURCE THE FULL BID where we complete all of the questions on your behalf and upload all of the required documentation to the portal ready for your review and submission.
- Lots 1-6 (irrespective of the number of lots you are bidding for) – £4,500 + vat
- Lot 7 (also includes Lots 1-6) – £10,950 + vat
THE CONSULTANCY AND REVIEW SERVICE which includes:
- A full review of all of the documentation relating to the bid (so we know the documents inside out and will be well positioned to give advice).
- Ongoing review of the “clarification” questions and answers as they are published.
- An initial consultation call to discuss what needs to be done and what needs to be filled in.
- Unlimited telephone and email support throughout the bid period (until the submission deadline).
- Maximum of 2 reviews of your draft responses to the qualitative questions (using track changes and comments in Microsoft Word format) to maximise available scores (relevant to Lot 7 only).
- A review of all documents to be uploaded to the portal to ensure they have been completed fully and correctly.
- A full review of the portal (once you have uploaded your bid) to ensure it is complete and compliant and that all attachments have been uploaded correctly.
- Lots 1-6 (irrespective of the number of lots you are bidding for) – £2,950 + vat
- Lot 7 (also includes Lots 1-6) – £6,950 + vat
