Supplier Selection QuestionaireInstructions to Bidders
Accelerator Model
Accelerator model refers to the point at which the Outcome Price is increased depending on the cohort performance
Authority or DWP
The Department for Work and Pensions of Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9NA
Best and Final Offer (BAFO) or Final Offer
means the Restart Bidder’s BAFO Qualitative Evaluation Questionnaire and BAFO CCR submitted at Stage 3: Final Offer.
BAFO Contract Cost Register or BAFO CCR
means the Excel spreadsheet which must be completed and submitted by Restart Bidders at Stage 3: Final Offer.
BAFO Qualitative Evaluation Questionnaire
means the Bidder’s updated and final response to the Qualitative Evaluation Questionnaire which must be submitted by Restart Bidders at Stage 3: Final Offer.
Bidder
means a CAEHRS Provider who responds to the Restart ITT.
CAEHRS Provider
A Bidder who has entered into the Commercial Agreement for the Provision of Employment and Health Related Services with DWP.
CAEHRS Contract
A framework style Commercial Agreement for the Provision of Employment and Health Related Services pursuant to which this is being conducted
Commercial Dialogue Sessions
means the commercial dialogue meetings between the Authority and the Bidders conducted in accordance with these Instructions to Bidders, the Commercial Dialogue Strategy and the Commercial Dialogue Charter.
Commercial Dialogue Strategy
means the document that forms part of the ITT outlining the Commercial Dialogue approach
Compliance
Compliance checks will be undertaken on all Stage 3: Final Offer responses to ensure that all information requested has been received. Such responses may be rejected if DWP in its absolute discretion determines that all the information requested is not included.
Consortium
An association of Economic Operators who have agreed to jointly submit a Tender. Consortia are not permitted to bid for Restart on the basis that the competition is only open to Tier 1 CAEHRS Providers as defined in clause E2.2 of the CAEHRS agreement.
Contract Cost Register or CCR
means the Excel spreadsheet which must be completed and submitted by Restart Bidders in accordance with this ITB. This will constitute an Initial CCR and a BAFO CCR
Contract Package Area or CPA
means the geographical area in which a Restart Provider must provide provision to Participants under the Contract as defined in the Specification.
Customer Service Standards
means the Customer Service Standards as defined in the Specification.
Financial Instructions to Bidders
means the Financial Instruction to Bidders and any other document, clarifications or other instructions issued referring to Financial Instruction to Bidders.
Group
in relation to a company, Group means that company, any subsidiary or holding company from time to time of that company, and any subsidiary from time to time of a holding company of that company.
Initial CCR
means the Excel spreadsheet which must be completed and submitted by Restart Bidders at Stage 1: Commercial Dialogue Response.
Instructions to Bidders or ITB
means this document and any other document, clarifications or other instructions issued to Bidders.
Invitation to Tender or ITT
means the suite of documents issued by the Authority through Jaggaer e-Portal which formed the invitation to participate in the competition for the award of this Contract for the provision of Services to the Authority.
Jaggaer e-Portal
means the DWP e-Procurement Solution (ePS) Portal provided by Jaggaer e-Portal (previously Bravo Solutions) or such replacement or successor system which the Authority may notify to the Bidder from time to time, which is accessible by the Bidder.
Restart Provider
A Restart Bidder who is successful in securing a Restart Contract as part of the mini-competition
Restart
Restart Bidder
A CAEHRS Tier 1 Provider, eligible to bid, and bidding for Restart and who had submitted a draft bid at Stage 1 for the CPA, and has sufficient Contractor Financial Capacity (CFC)
Restart Contract
A Contract awarded by DWP to the successful Restart Bidder following the conclusion of the Restart Mini-Competition
Maximum Contract Value
means the current budget allocated to the Restart programme within each CPA.
Outcomes
PCR
Participants
Qualitative Evaluation Questionnaire or QEQ
means the Stage 3 Final Offer questionnaire contained in the Jaggaer e-Portal Technical Envelope.
Referrals
Referral Period
means the period from and including the Referral Period Start Date until the Referral Period End Date when the Authority may make Referrals as more particularly defined in the Contract.
Specification
means the Specification for Restart issued by DWP as part of the ITT.
Stage 1: Commercial Dialogue Response
means the initial stage of the procurement process where Bidders submit their initial response to the Restart ITT.
Stage 2: Commercial Dialogue Sessions
means the second stage of the procurement where DWP engages in structured dialogue with Bidders in each CPA in relation to their Stage 1: Commercial Dialogue Response.
Stage 3: Final Offer
means the final response to the ITT where Bidders submit their Final Offer
Tender
means a Bidder’s response to the Restart ITT including the Stage 3: Final Offer, the FVRA Response and any Questions and Answers as published by the Authority carrying a reference number of A399 or higher.
Previous information, Questions and Answers, draft tenders, dialogue discussions and dialogue information is ignored with material elements incorporated into the Stage 3 Final Offer documents.
Furthermore, the Tender includes any and all post-tender clarifications made by the Provider to the Authority prior to the Contract Commencement Date.
Tender Assurance Strategy
means the document that forms part of the ITT outlining the Tender Assurance Approach
Total Contract Funding
Total Contract Value
means the expected total contract value submitted by the Bidder in its Initial CCR and/or BAFO CCR.
Total Unit Cost
means the total unit cost submitted by the Bidder in its Initial CCR and/or BAFO CCR.
Introduction
These Instructions to Bidders (ITB) are for a Call-Off contract in accordance with Section E of the CAEHRS Terms and Conditions.
The Tender has been specifically designed to enable the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to assess the suitability of a Restart Bidder to deliver Restart Services to DWP. This Tender is a request for a proposal from the Restart Bidders and is not a contract or an offer capable of acceptance by any Restart Bidder. This Tender shall not otherwise have contractual effect between the DWP and any other person. Participation in the Restart Mini-Competition does not create any form of contract (implied or otherwise) between DWP and any Restart Bidder.
DWP recommends that each Restart Bidder fully reviews this ITB before any input to the Jaggaer e-Portal, in response to the Stage 3: Final Offer ITT.
The Restart Bidder can only bid at Stage 3 Final Offer where a) they submitted a bid at Stage 1 Commercial Dialogue Response; and b) hold a Contractor Financial Capacity (CFC) equal to or greater than the Restart Contract Package Area for which they wish to bid.
The Authority rescinds all previous Restart tender documentation, including but not limited to all documents and representation supporting or arising from Stage 1 Commercial Dialogue Response and Stage 2 Commercial Dialogue Sessions, with the exception of the Tender Assurance Strategy and Tender Assurance Reports. The Authority has amended the relevant commercial documents in accordance with information and representations made in Stage 1 Commercial Dialogue Response and Stage 2 Commercial Dialogue Session. The Tender therefore should be against the commercial documents issued at Stage 3 Final Offer and any published Questions and Answers numbered 399 or higher including any post-tender clarification.
General Information
Please note unless otherwise indicated:
(a) references to the "Authority" or to “DWP” throughout this procurement means the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions acting through his/her representatives in the Department for Work and Pensions:
(b) and references to “Bidders” means any person or organisation providing information or, where the context requires, potentially providing information in response to this ITT.
(c) unless otherwise defined, capitalised terms used in these Instructions to Bidders (ITB) have the same meaning as in the Glossary, Restart Specification, the Restart Contract or the CAEHRS as appropriate.
This document contains information and instructions to help Bidders to complete their Tender for the Stage 3: Final Offer.
This procurement falls under Schedule 3 of the PCR under the Health, Social and Related Services category and therefore the “Light Touch Regime” shall apply to this procurement, which means that the procurement is not subject to the full application of the PCR and will be conducted in accordance with regulations 74 to 76 of the PCR using a two stage process. A voluntary Standstill period will be incorporated.
It is the Authority’s intention that this ITT will comply with the overriding EU Treaty principles including open and transparent competition to ensure value for money.
Contract Package Areas
For the delivery of Restart, 6 of the CAEHRS Lots covering England and Wales have been sub-divided into 12 Contract Package Areas (CPAs) which are the subject of this competition.
The Authority intends to award 12 Contracts. Each Contract relates to the delivery of Restart in a different CPA. Bidders have been invited to submit a Stage 3: Final Offer for each CPA in which they have submitted a Stage 1 Commercial Dialogue Response. Each Bidder must submit one Tender in respect of each CPA specific Invitation to Tender (ITT) for which it wishes to make a bid. A Restart Bidder may only bid in a CPA where they submitted a bid at Stage 1 Commercial Dialogue Response and where the Bidder’s Contract Financial Capacity (CFC) meets or exceeds the average annual contract value as determined by the Authority. Each Tender must meet the Authority’s minimum requirements, operate as a standalone bid and not be dependent on any other bid or any other factors external to the Tender itself. Each Tender must be capable of being accepted by the Authority in its own right. By way of example, if a Bidder wishes to compete for a Contract in all 12 CPAs it must submit 12 complete Tenders.
Bidders will only be eligible to win Contracts in a maximum of two (2) CPAs as a prime Provider and only one Contract within each CAEHRS Lot. Bidders must express their CPA preference in the Stage 3: Final Offer . Where a Bidder is successful in two (2) CPAs the parties agree to negotiate discounts following contract award.
Each Contract will include a referral period of 36 months and with implementation, service delivery and additional tracking period the overall Contract will be for a period of approximately five years. Bidders should note that maximum total value of the 12 Contracts is fixed at £2.866 billion across all 12 CPAs. The Authority does not guarantee volumes; however, the indicative Total Contract Value for each Contract is set out in the Restart Specification. A Bidder will be deemed non-compliant and excluded from the Tender if the Total Contract Value in the Best and Final Offer (BAFO) Contract Cost register (CCR), exceeds the Maximum Contract Value for the CPA to which the Tender relates.
The Authority has set a discount collar at 10% below Total Contract Value and a Bidder offering a greater discount, at Stage 3 Final Offer, will be excluded as the Authority is seeking to maximise the investment into service delivered to Participants on Restart.
The Restart procurement process consists of the following stages:
· Stage 1: Commercial Dialogue Responses (responses from Stage 1 are not evaluated or scored);
· Stage 2: Commercial Dialogue Sessions;
· Stage 2b: Tender Assurance; and
· Stage 3: Final Offer (submission of the BAFO Qualitative Evaluation Questionnaire and the BAFO CCR for full evaluation and scoring).
Stage 1, 2 and 2b have now concluded and this ITB has been prepared to enable Bidders to submit their Stage 3 Final Offer. Any and all information, in whatever form, in support of Stage 1 and 2 are superseded and the Parties shall not rely upon them. Clarification questions raised, up to and including question 398, have been subsumed into the Stage 3 Final Offer ITT Documents where appropriate. The Tender consists of the Stage 3 Final Offer, the Stage 3 Final Offer response, clarification questions numbered 399 and over and any post-tender clarifications.
Right to Verify Information Provided
Compliance checks will be undertaken on all Tenders to ensure that all information requested has been received. Such Tenders may be rejected if the Authority in its absolute discretion determines that all the information requested is not included or is not submitted in the required format.
Whilst reserving the right to request information at any time throughout the Restart Mini-Competition, DWP will allow the Bidders to self-certify that there are no mandatory / discretionary grounds for excluding their organisation in accordance with the PCR.
Without prejudice to 3.2, DWP may contact (or may require the Bidder to contact on its behalf) any of the Bidder’s customers, members of its Group, sub-contractors or other third parties to whom information relates in the Bidder’s Tender, to ask that they testify that such information is accurate and true. Where such information does not substantiate the Bidder’s Tender DWP reserves the right to reject the Bidders submission on the basis of false or misleading statements.
DWP reserves the right to seek third party independent advice or assistance to validate information submitted by a Bidder and/or to assist in the evaluation of the Tender.
DWP reserves the right to conduct site visits of any premises indicated by the Bidder to be used in connection with their Tender. Where such information does not substantiate the Bidder’s Tender DWP reserves the right to reject the Bidder’s submission on the basis of false or misleading statements.
DWP may require the Bidder to clarify aspects of its Tender in writing and/or provide additional information. Failure to respond adequately may result in the rejection of the Tender and its elimination from further participation in all or part of the Restart Mini-Competition.
Tenders shall remain valid and capable of acceptance for 180 days from the closing date for receipt from the final offer
Consequences of misrepresentation
If you misrepresent any factual information when completing the Tender and so induce the Authority to enter into a Contract, there may be significant consequences. You may be excluded from the Restart Mini-Competition and from bidding for other contracts for three (3) years. If a Contract has been entered into you may be sued for damages and the Contract may be rescinded. If fraud, or fraudulent intent, can be proved, you or your responsible officers may be prosecuted and convicted of offences relating to fraud, and unless you are able to provide adequate evidence of self-cleaning, you will be excluded from further procurements for five years.
Authority’s Terms and Conditions
The draft Contract that the Authority will use is located on the Jaggaer e-Portal. By submitting a Tender, Bidders are agreeing to be bound by the terms of the ITT and the Contract without further negotiation or amendment. Bidders are not permitted to submit their own contractual terms and conditions. Amendments to the Contract will not be considered. For the avoidance of doubt any submissions made by Bidders to the Authority regarding changes to the published terms and conditions will be disregarded.
Conduct – Specific Obligations
Conduct during the Restart Mini-Competition and canvassing:
The Bidder must not directly or indirectly canvass any Minister, officer, public sector employee, member or agent regarding the Restart Mini-Competition or attempt to obtain any information from the same regarding the Restart Mini-Competition (except where and as permitted by the ITT). Any attempt by the Bidder to do so may result in the Bidder’s disqualification from the Restart Mini-Competition.
Involvement in multiple tenders:
If a Bidder is involved with the submission of multiple Tenders for the same requirement or CPA (as applicable), including (without limit) where it submits a Tender in its own name and:
a) it is a sub-contractor on another Tender; or
b) it is a company and another company in its Group has submitted another Tender
then DWP reserves the right to make further enquiries regarding each of the relevant Tenders to satisfy itself, in DWP’s absolute discretion, that such involvement does not, in DWP’s opinion cause potential or actual conflicts of interest, supplier capacity problems, restrictions or distortions in competition which are unacceptable from DWP’s perspective. DWP may request that the Bidder amend or withdraw all or part of its Tender if, in DWP's opinion and at its absolute discretion, any of the above issues have arisen or may arise. DWP reserves the right to reject a Tender on this basis.
Collusive Behaviour
A Restart Bidder must not:
a) fix or adjust any element of its Tender by agreement or arrangement with any other person, except where, but subject always to paragraph 7.2, such prohibited acts are undertaken with persons who are also participants in the relevant Tender, such as companies within its Group or sub-contractors, or where disclosure to such person is made in confidence in order to obtain quotations necessary for the preparation of its tender or obtain any necessary security;
b) communicate with any person other than the Authority the value, price or rates set out in its Tender or information which would enable the precise or approximate value, price or rates to be calculated by any other person, except where such communication is undertaken with persons who are also participants in the relevant Tender, such as companies within its Group or sub-contractors, or where disclosure to such person is made in confidence in order to obtain quotations necessary for the preparation of its tender or obtain any necessary security;
c) enter into any agreement or arrangement with any other person, so that person refrains from submitting a Tender;
d) share, permit or disclose to another person, access to any information relating to its Tender (or another Tender with which it has an involvement as indicated above); or
e) offer or agree to pay or give or do pay or give any sum or sums of money, inducement or valuable consideration directly or indirectly to any other person for doing or having done or causing or having caused to be done in relation to its Tender, any other Tender or proposed Tender, any act or omission.
If a Bidder breaches paragraph 7.1, DWP may (without prejudice to any other criminal or civil remedies available to it) exclude the Bidder from further participation in the Restart Mini-Competition and this would potentially be a serious breach of CAEHRS Terms and Conditions.
DWP may require a Bidder to put in place any procedures or undertake any such action(s) that DWP in its sole discretion considers necessary to prevent or curtail any collusive behaviour.
Costs and Expenses
The Authority will not reimburse any costs incurred by any Bidders (including the costs or expenses of any members of its Group, sub-contractors or advisors) in connection with the preparation and/or submission of its Tender or any other response during this Restart Mini-Competition, including (without limit) where:
a) the Restart Mini-Competition is cancelled, shortened or delayed for any reason (including, without limitation, where such action is necessary due to non-compliance or potential non-compliance with the law, including the PCR));
b) all or any part of the ITT are at any time amended, clarified, added to or withdrawn for any reason;
c) the Restart Mini-Competition or any part of it is not concluded or a contract not awarded in respect of some or all of the Restart Services in respect of which the ITT is issued; or
d) the Bidder and/or its Tender is disqualified from participation in the procurement for any reason, including but not limited to, a breach of this ITB.
Confidentiality
For the avoidance of doubt, all of this section 10 applies throughout the Restart Mini-Competition. Subject to the exceptions referred to in paragraph 7.2, the contents of the ITT are being made available by DWP on the conditions that the Bidder:
a) treats all the information in the ITT (“ITT Information”) as confidential at all times, unless the ITT Information is already in the public domain;
b) does not disclose, copy, reproduce, distribute or pass any of the ITT Information to any other person at any time or allow any of these things to happen, except where, and to the extent that, the ITT Information has been publicised in accordance with paragraph 10 (Freedom of Information) or paragraph 11 (Transparency);
c) only uses the ITT Information for the purposes of preparing a Tender (or deciding whether to respond); and
d) does not undertake any promotional or similar activity related to the Restart Mini-Competition within any section of the media during the Restart Mini-Competition.
A Bidder may disclose, distribute or pass any of the ITT Information to members of its Group, sub-contractors, advisers or to any other person provided that:
a) this is done for the sole purpose of enabling the Bidder to submit its Tender and the person receiving the ITT Information undertakes in writing (such written undertaking to be made available to DWP at DWP’s request) to keep the ITT Information confidential on the same terms imposed by this ITB; or
b) it obtains the DWP’s prior written consent in relation to such disclosure, distribution or passing of ITT Information; or
c) the disclosure is made for the sole purpose of obtaining legal advice from external lawyers in relation to this procurement; or
d) the Bidder is legally required to make such a disclosure; or
e) the ITT Information has been published in accordance with paragraphs 11 (Freedom of Information) and 12 (Transparency).
The Authority may disclose information submitted by Bidders during the Restart Mini-Competition to its officers, employees, agents or advisers or other government departments or representatives of devolved deal areas who are stakeholders in the Restart Mini-Competition.
All Central Government Departments and their Executive Agencies and Non Departmental Public Bodies are subject to control and reporting within Government. In particular, they report to the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury for all expenditure. Further, the Cabinet Office has a cross Government role delivering overall Government Policy on public procurement – including ensuring value for money and related aspects of good procurement practice.
For these purposes, the Authority may disclose within HM Government any of the Bidder’s documentation or information (including any that the Bidder considers to be confidential and / or commercially sensitive such as specific information in Tender) submitted by the Bidder to the Authority during the Restart Mini-Competition. Bidders taking part in the Restart Mini-Competition are required and are deemed to consent, to such disclosure, by their participation in the Restart Mini-Competition.
All information provided by Bidders to the Authority throughout the procurement will similarly be treated in confidence except:
(a) For the disclosure of such information with regard to the outcome of the procurement process as may be required to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and on Contracts Finder in accordance with the PCR;
(b) References may be sought from banks, existing or past clients, or other referees submitted by the Bidder. The Authority confirms that it will keep confidential any information obtained from referees other than to the Crown Commercial Service and/or contracting authorities defined in the PCR;
(c) In pursuance of the Authority’s statutory obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) or the Environmental Information Regulations or the UK Government’s requirements on transparency – see Section 11 (Freedom of Information).
Freedom of Information
In accordance with the obligations and duties placed upon public authorities by the FOIA[footnoteRef:2] and the EIR[footnoteRef:3] and in accordance with any government Code of Practice on the discharge of public authorities’ functions under the FOIA, all information submitted to the Authority may be disclosed under a request for information made pursuant to the FOIA and/or the EIR. [2: FOIA means the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as amended and any subordinate legislation made thereunder from time to time together with any guidance and/or codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner or relevant Government department in relation to such legislation.] [3: EIR means the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 together with any guidance and/or codes of by the Information Commissioner or relevant Government department in relation to such regulations.]
A Bidder should note that the information disclosed pursuant to a FOIA or EIR request may include, but is not limited to, the disclosure of its Tender (including any attachments or embedded documents) and/or any score or details of the evaluation of its Tender.
If the Bidder identifies that part of its Tender or other information it submits is confidential or commercially sensitive, DWP in its sole discretion will consider whether or not to withhold such information from publication. Bidders should note that, even where information is identified as confidential or commercially sensitive, the Authority may be required to disclose such information in accordance with the FOIA or the EIR. DWP is required to form an independent judgement of whether the Bidder’s information referred to in above is exempt from disclosure under the FOIA or the EIR and whether the public interest favours disclosure or not. The Authority cannot guarantee that any information indicated as being confidential or commercially sensitive by the Bidder will be withheld from publication.
If the Bidder receives a request for information under the FOIA or the EIR during and in relation to the Restart Mini-Competition, it should be immediately referred to the Authority.
Transparency
In accordance with HM Government's policy on transparency, the Authority reserves the right to make all or part of the ITT Information publicly available (subject to any redactions made at the discretion of DWP by considering and applying relevant exemptions under the FOIA).
A Tender will not be published unless such disclosure is required in accordance with paragraphs 11 or 12.
Bidders should note that the Contract Terms and Conditions permit the Authority to publish the full text of any Contract after considering (at DWP’s absolute discretion) any representations made by the Bidder regarding the application of any relevant FOIA or EIR exemptions.
The Bidder acknowledges and agrees that ITT Information may be incorporated by the Authority into any Contract awarded to the Bidder and as a result, it may be published in accordance with this paragraph 12.
Intellectual Property Rights
The ITT shall remain the property of DWP and shall be used by the Bidder only for the purposes of the Restart Mini-Competition.
The Bidder grants to DWP a royalty free, irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive licence to copy, amend and reproduce any intellectual property contained within its Tender for the purposes of carrying out the Restart Mini-Competition; complying with the law and/or any government guidance; and/or carrying out DWP’s business activities. This licence shall also permit DWP to sublicense the use of the intellectual property contained in the Tender to its advisers or sub-contractors or other Contracting Bodies for the same purposes.
No Inducement or Incentive
The Bidder acknowledges and agrees that nothing contained within the ITT shall constitute an inducement or incentive nor shall have in any other way persuaded a Bidder to submit a Tender or enter into a Contract or any other contractual agreement.
Offering an inducement of any kind in relation to obtaining a Contract or any other contract with DWP will disqualify any Bidder from the Restart Mini-Competition and may constitute a criminal offence. Any attempt by Bidders or their advisors to influence the contract award process in any way may result in the Bidder being disqualified. Specifically, Bidders shall not directly or indirectly at any time:
(a) Devise or amend the content of their Bid in accordance with any agreement or arrangement with any other person, other than in good faith with a person who is a proposed partner, supplier, consortium member or provider of finance;
(b) Enter into any agreement or arrangement with any other person as to the form or content of any other Bidder, or offer to pay any sum of money or valuable consideration to any person to effect changes to the form or content of any other Bidder;
(c) Enter into any agreement or arrangement with any other person that has the effect of prohibiting or excluding that person from submitting a Bid;
(d) Canvass the Authority or any employees or agents of the Authority in relation to this Restart Mini-Competition (see Section 7 Conduct – Specific Obligations); or
(e) Attempt to obtain information from any of the employees or agents of the Authority or their advisors concerning another Bidder or Bid.
Bidders are responsible for ensuring that no conflicts of interest exist between the Bidder and its advisers, and the Authority and its advisors. Any Bidder who fails to comply with this requirement may be disqualified from the procurement at the discretion of the Authority.
Sub-contracting arrangements
The Authority recognises that Bidders’ arrangements in relation to sub-contracting may be subject to future change, and may not be finalised until a later date. However, Bidders should be aware that where information provided to the Authority indicates that sub-contractors are to play a significant role in delivering key contract requirements, any changes to those sub-contracting arrangements may affect DWP’s assessment of (a) whether a Bidder should proceed in the Restart Mini-Competition; and/or (b) the ability of the Bidder to provide the Services as required by DWP. Bidders should therefore notify the Authority immediately of any change in the proposed sub-contractor arrangements. The Authority reserves the right to deselect the Bidder prior to any award of contract, based on an assessment of the updated information. This is in compliance with PPN 01/18.
If you are proposing to sub-contract part of a Contract, and in doing so will rely on the capacity of a sub-contractor to fulfil the selection criteria, then the Bidder must complete Question 1.3.6 in the Technical Envelope on the Jaggaer e-Portal and is responsible for coordinating and submitting Appendix 2 - Sub-contractor details.
Bidders’ use of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in their Supply Chain
The Authority recognises the important role SMEs have in helping to deliver UK economic growth and prosperity. DWP has an aspirational target of 40% spend, either directly or indirectly, to be with SMEs where it is relevant to the contractual requirement and provides value for money. Where possible the Bidder is encouraged to increase its spending on SMEs through either direct spend or indirectly through the supply chain.
The Bidder is encouraged to:
(a) Open opportunities for SMEs in supply chains by splitting requirements into smaller elements to make them more attractive to the SME market whilst bringing innovation, flexibility and value for money;
(b) Advertise any sub-contracting opportunities above a minimum subcontract threshold of £25,000 where appropriate and economical to do so, for example by using Contracts Finder or informing local networks/partners;
(c) Where possible pay SMEs earlier than the contractual requirement of 30 days from receipt of a valid invoice; and
(d) Work with SMEs throughout the life of the Contract to develop innovative and cost effective solutions delivered through the supply chain.
(e) Invest in their Supply Chain / Delivery partners to help them grow and ensure they are sustainable.
Regular contract review meetings in respect of each Contract will be used to enable both DWP and each Bidder to explore continued and increased use of SMEs where appropriate throughout the life of the Contract. Additional information may be requested by DWP from each Bidder as regards the volume of business undertaken throughout the supply chain in respect of the Contract.
DWP may contact the supply chain during bidding to ascertain the accuracy of the information contained in the bid. Additionally, DWP will contact the supply chain from time-to-time during live running of the contact to ascertain how the supply chain is being, inter alia, supported, managed and paid and the Provider will need to ensure that it creates an open, honest and transparent relationship with the supply chain and provide the same for DWP to engage with the supply chain.
Supporting a versatile supply chain is key to developing a successful market and requires all Bidders to demonstrate the right behaviours so when working with Bidders should not require supply chain partners to offer exclusivity to their organisation or bid.
Amendments to the procurement process or documents by the Authority
The Authority reserves the right, subject to the rules set out in the PCR and the CAEHRS, to amend the Restart Mini-Competition and/or the ITT in any of the following ways:
(a) to change the basis of, or the procedures for, the Restart Mini-Competition at any time; and/or
(b) to amend, clarify, add to or withdraw all or any part of the ITT at any time during the Restart Mini-Competition, including varying any timetable or deadlines set out in the ITT; and/or
(c) to cancel all or part of the Restart Mini-Competition at any time and/or
(d) not to conclude the Restart Mini-Competition or award any Contract notwithstanding the issue of the ITT.
Notification of any amendment referred to in paragraph 18.1 will be numbered, dated and issued by the Authority via the Jaggaer e-Portal. Where DWP at its absolute discretion decides that such amendments are significant, DWP may at its absolute discretion extend the deadline for submission of all or any part of the Tender.
By their participation in the Restart Mini-Competition, Bidders accept and acknowledge that notwithstanding the issue of the ITT, DWP is not bound:
a) to accept any Tender; or
b) to conclude the Restart Mini-Competition; or
c) to award any contract.
If DWP at its absolute discretion deems that none of the Tenders received in response to the ITT are satisfactory, it reserves the right to terminate all or part of the Restart Mini-Competition.
Documentation
The ITT is formed of 5 documents which are available on Jaggaer e-Portal. These documents are:
Document 1 – these Instructions to Bidders (including CCR Guidance)
Document 2 – the Contract
Document 3 – Specification
Document 4 – Any Q&A log published during Stage 3: Final Offer of the competition where the question number is 399 or higher
Document 5 – Performance Expectations
Restart Mini-Competition Timetable
Set out below is the proposed timetable for the Restart Mini-Competition Stage 3: Final Offer. This is intended as a guide. Although DWP does not intend to depart significantly from the dates shown below they may be amended by DWP at its absolute discretion.
Activity
Date
26th February 2021
10:00am 4th March 2021
10:00am 15th March 2021
15th March 2021 to 2nd April 2021
Internal/external governance & approvals
Restart Mini-Competition Contracts awarded
Restart Contract signature
26th April 2021
Go Live Date
28th June 2021*
*Go Live Date
Providers must have ready a process/system in place for JCP Work Coaches to book warm handovers. This can be (but not restricted to), an online tool, a list of available appointments, someone to book appointments etc…between 28 June 2021 – 12 July 2021. Warm Handover appointments will be booked to be undertaken between 12 July 2021 – 26 July 2021
Providers will receive PRaP referrals between 13 July 2021 – 27 July 2021. Providers must have work coaches available for the claimant initial face to face meeting by 13 July 202. Not all face to face initial meeting need to take place on 13 July 2021, in line with CSS’s Providers have 30 working days to complete this initial meeting with the claimant.
Clarification (Q&A)
Bidders have the opportunity to raise questions and request clarification about the Restart Mini-Competition Stage 3: Final Offer. All questions must be raised in the messaging section of Restart Stage 3: Final Offer Generic Qualification Envelope ITT via the Jaggaer e-Portal prior to the deadline (see Section 19 above). The last day for asking questions is 4th March 2021 at 10:00, questions received after this time may not be answered by the Authority
The Question and Answer Log (Q&A Log) will be published on the Jaggaer e-Portal and updated regularly. It will be the responsibility of the Bidder to monitor the Jaggaer e-Portal for the latest activity.
Subject always to Sections 10, 11 and 12 above, if a Bidder submits a question which is deemed by a Bidder to be commercially confidential, the Bidder should clearly indicate to the Authority that they believe this is the case. The Authority will consider this indication in accordance with Sections 10, 11 and 12 above.
Unless such questions are deemed by the Authority at its absolute discretion to be commercially confidential, they will be shared with all Bidders via the Q & A Log. DWP will inform the Bidder before sharing any question which the Bidder believes to be commercially confidential which will provide an opportunity for the question to be withdrawn by the Bidder. All questions and answers will be made anonymous and made available to all Bidders via the Jaggaer e-Portal.
Subject to paragraph 24.3, in the interests of ensuring transparency and equal treatment, any clarifications or updates to the ITT will be issued simultaneously to all Bidders, who remain in the Restart Mini-Competition at the time of any such clarification or update.
Re-issue of Documentation
DWP reserves the right to re-issue updated versions of all or part of the ITT, including QEQ page counts, at any time prior to Final Offer submission for the relevant CPA, and to revise any relevant key dates (as set out in the timetable at para 19.1 above) to provide a reasonable and proportionate amount of time for Bidders, as appropriate, to respond to that update.
Subject to paragraph 24.3, in the interests of ensuring transparency and equal treatment, any clarifications or updates to the ITT will be issued simultaneously to all Bidders, who remain in the Competition at the time of any such clarification or update. The only exception to this will be where the question is deemed Commercially Sensitive in which case we will respond only to that Bidder.
Restart Tender Completion
The Jaggaer e-Portal relies on the completion of 3 envelopes (Qualification, Technical and Commercial) which will contain all the information the Authority requires in response to the Restart ITT. All information should be uploaded as per instructions into the relevant envelopes on the Jaggaer Portal.
Bidders should answer all questions using the templates provided. Please ensure all answers are self-contained with no cross-referencing to information contained in answers to other questions.
Only information entered into the appropriate answer boxes will be reviewed unless specifically stated otherwise in these Instructions to Bidders. Where a response must be entered into an answer box on the Jaggaer e-Portal the box may be extended as necessary, but the response inserted must not exceed any applicable page count. If Bidders exceed these limits, only the response within the limits will be reviewed; any responses in excess of these allocations will be disregarded and will not be taken into account.
Responses must not exceed the pre-set margins (left/right 2.54, top/bottom 1.75) and space allocation. In some cases, the Authority may put a word limit on responses to some or all questions. These limits are provided in the ITB and any responses in excess of these allocations will be disregarded and will not be taken into account.
Bullet points, tables, graphs and charts in support of responses in the Tender are all permitted. Tenders must be presented using Arial font size 12 (English Language and black typeface) this includes where information may be tabulated as part of the response. The only exception permitted is for illustrative screen shots, graphs and charts, which should be presented within the allocated page limit for the question to which they are relevant and must not be embedded separately as this information will be disregarded.
Tenders and attachments should be submitted using standard applications i.e. Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel. Files submitted in Microsoft Project or other formats will not be accepted. For organisation charts, maps and stakeholder / supply chain declaration PDF format is acceptable.
Bidders must submit their Tenders in accordance with the instructions in the ITB. No additional documents should be submitted with a Tender unless specifically requested by the Authority.
All acronyms and abbreviations used by the Bidder must be fully explained in the Tender.
Submission Procedure
The ITT and any attachments have been specifically designed to be compatible with DWP e-tendering and e-evaluation requirements and must not, under any circumstances, be altered by or on behalf of Bidders.
All parts of the Tender must be submitted to the Authority using the Jaggaer e- Portal. Any part of the Tender purportedly submitted by any other means will not be accepted.
Deadline for Submission
All parts of the Tender must be received by the Authority by the submission deadline(s) which are shown in the timetable (see Section 19). Tenders received at the date and time, as indicated in Section 19, may be rejected by the Authority at its sole discretion.
A Bidder may choose not to take part in the Restart Mini-Competition Stage 3: Final Offer and therefore not submit a Stage 3: Final Offer Response by the deadline as shown in Section 19. It would be useful to the Authority if Bidders could advise DWP in advance if they will not be submitting a Tender and if possible the reasons behind their decision.
Additional Materials, Documents and Attachments
No additional documentation should be submitted with the Tender unless specifically requested by the Authority and any such material will not be evaluated.
Information that forms part of general company literature or promotional brochures will not be evaluated and should not be submitted.
Unless specifically requested by DWP the Tender should not contain any inserted, pasted or embedded pictures or documents (image files, Adobe Acrobat documents or other Word documents) and any such material will not be evaluated except and unless specifically requested for by the Authority.
Contract Package Areas (CPAs)
Bidders will be limited to a maximum of 2 CPAs on the programme overall and only 1 CPA within a CAEHRS Lot. Bidders will be asked to provide a ranked order of preference for their Tenders. DWP will consider Bidders’ preference order in determining the award of Contracts alongside, at its absolute discretion, wider value for money including, but not limited to, relative scores in each contract package area and performance offers.
Restart Mini-Competition Stage 3: Final Offer Response
Bidders will be required to submit a response to all evaluation questions.Bidders should note that the Authority may take account of information in the public domain in addition in to information provided in the Tender. The Authority may contact the Bidder to seek clarification of any such information in the public domain.
Qualification Envelope
The Restart Bidder will be required to submit a single generic qualification envelope within the generic ITT which will be applicable to all CPA’s they are bidding for. For each CPA the Restart Bidder is bidding in they must respond via the specific CPA ITT with both an individual technical envelope and Commercial Envelope for each CPA.
The Bidder must provide full details of a contact for the Authority to use in relation to the Restart Mini-Competition. This section is also used to gather details of the Bidder organisation’s key personnel. The Bidder must ensure that this is correct, updated and DWP shall not be held responsible, in any way, for communications missed by the Bidder, for incorrect contact information or for any missed communications sent to the ascribed contacts.
Grounds for Mandatory Exclusion
Refer to the additional notes provided on the Jaggaer Portal. This section is used to establish whether there is any reason that the Bidder should not be allowed to continue to participate in the Restart Mini-Competition. If the Bidder answers ‘yes’ to one of these questions, indicating that their organisation meets one of the grounds for mandatory exclusion, the Bidder will not be allowed to participate further in the Restart Mini-Competition unless they can demonstrate adequate ‘self-cleaning’ – see Paragraph 24.7.
Non-payment of Taxes
Refer to the additional notes provided on the Jaggaer Portal. This is an additional ground for mandatory exclusion. If you answer ‘yes’ to this question you will not be allowed to participate further in the Restart Mini-Competition unless you can demonstrate adequate ‘self-cleaning’.
Grounds for Discretionary Exclusion – Part 1
Refer to the additional notes provided on the Jaggaer Portal. The Authority can choose to exclude a Bidder who answers ‘yes’ to one of these questions. You may not be allowed to participate further in the Restart Mini-Competition unless you can demonstrate adequate ‘self-cleaning’.
Conflicts of Interest
Refer to the additional notes provided on the Jaggaer Portal. This is an additional ground for discretionary exclusion. You must identify any potential conflict of interest and provide full details, including how the conflict of interest might be effectively remedied. If DWP considers the integrity of the Restart Mini-Competition is compromised by a conflict of interest, you will not be allowed to participate further. DWP may contact you to discuss further where a potential conflict of interest is identified.
Self-Cleaning
Refer to the additional notes provided on the Jaggaer Portal. This section allows Bidders to provide further information where they have answered ‘yes’ to any of the grounds for mandatory exclusion, including non-payment of taxes, or grounds for discretionary exclusion.
Bidders should upload evidence to explain in detail how they have addressed an issue (identified by a ‘yes’ answer). DWP will consider whether the ‘self-cleaning’ adequately addresses the risk or other issue exposed by the ‘yes’ answer.
Information Security Questionnaire (Annex Y)
Cabinet Office has introduced mandatory requirements relating to data handling, security and information assurance in HM Government contracts. Information must be protected, together with systems, equipment and processes which support its use. All DWP contractors must provide an appropriate level of security.
The Authority has moved away from ‘Security Plans’ and instead all bidders are required to complete an ‘Information Security Questionnaire’ as part of their tender submission. For any non-compliances identified, DWP will work with the preferred Bidder(s) to agree a suitable action plan with timescales for addressing the identified gaps in compliance.
Prompt Payment
If you intend to use a supply chain for this contract, you must demonstrate you have effective systems in place to ensure a reliable supply chain. This criterion is focused on exploring your payment systems.
Insurance
This section allows you to self-certify that you have or will have adequate insurance as required by DWP for the delivery of any Restart Contract if you are awarded a Restart Contract.
CPA Preferences
Please confirm your CPA preferences in order using the template provided.
Contractual Documents
This section gathers information around the Bidders understanding of some of DWP requirements post contract award.
Declaration
It is the responsibility of the Bidders to confirm that they understand that the Authority may reject their Tender if there is a failure to answer all relevant questions fully or if false/misleading information is provided.
Assessment and Feedback
All information submitted at the Restart Mini-Competition Stage 3: Final Offer will undergo an initial compliance check to ensure that all information requested has been provided. Failure to meet and comply with the instructions issued may result in a Restart Tender being rejected by DWP absolute discretion.
The Stage 3: Final Offer responses to the Qualitative Evaluation Questionnaire will be scored against the criteria using the scoring methodology set out below. The scoring applies to the overall question and the Restart Bidder should ensure any areas highlighted by the bullet points, in the Qualitative Evaluation Questionnaire, are covered within the overall response as well as the overarching question. No individual bullet point has a separate weighting and therefore does not have a greater or lesser impact on the overall question, which will be assessed as a whole.
Full Qualitative Evaluation Questions (QEQ’s) are included at Annex B of this ITB.
Scoring methodology
Score
Definition
0
Poor
The response provides a substantially incomplete or no response that fails to answer the question and demonstrates a poor/no understanding of the criteria. There are major weaknesses in the proposals for meeting the relevant requirement(s) or other elements of the Specification with no explanation or evidence.
1
Limited
The response fails to meet significant parts of the question and demonstrates a limited understanding of the criteria. There are significant weaknesses in the proposal for meeting the relevant requirement(s) or other elements of the Specification with insufficient explanation and evidence.
3
Satisfactory
The response meets some parts of the question and demonstrates an adequate understanding of all of the criteria. The level of detail provided is generally adequate for meeting the relevant requirement(s) or other elements of the Specification, though there are weaknesses in relation to specific elements or a lack of supporting evidence.
5
Good
The response meets most parts of the question and demonstrates a strong understanding of the criteria. There is a sufficient level of detail and supporting evidence, though there are some minor weaknesses in the proposals for meeting the relevant requirement(s)
7
Excellent
The response fully answers the question and demonstrates an excellent understanding of the criteria. The response demonstrates an ability to deliver to a high standard and includes comprehensive detail and supporting evidence. There are no weaknesses in the proposals for meeting the relevant requirement(s) or other elements of the Specification.
Restart Tender Evaluation
· Restart Tender Evaluation
· Restart Contract Award Decision
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Each Qualitative Evaluation Question will be evaluated by a minimum of two evaluators. Where different scores have been awarded, a Moderator will discuss with the evaluators assigned to the question to agree a consensus score. This moderated score will be input to the AWARD system by the Moderator, with all evidence logged and final feedback checked and verified by the Moderators and Evaluation Manager.
Moderation will take place throughout the evaluation in order to ensure that there has been a consistent application of scoring standards against the criteria. All Moderator(s) will be from the DWP Commercial Directorate.
The overall ratio of Qualitative evaluation to Financial evaluation is;
65% Qualitative:35% Financial and Performance Offer.
The Stage 3: Final Offer responses to the Qualitative Evaluation Questionnaire will be evaluated based on the weighting and scores in the table below. This score will amount to the 65% quality score outlined above:
Tender Form
25
175
0
0
100
700
DWP will reject any Tenders not achieving a 5 or above in any of the questions, including those with a weighting of 0.
Qualification Envelope
Q1.2 – Q.1.3
Q 1.4 Declaration
Q 1.5 – Q1.12
Q 1.13
Technical Envelope
Q1.3.4
Q1.3.6
Q1.4.1
Q2.5.1 – Commercially Sensitive Information
Answer Yes or No
If answered Yes to Q2.5.1 complete and attach Annex Q
Section 2.6 - Declaration by Potential Providers
Q2.6.1 – Confirmation
Commercial Envelope
Q2.1.2 – Annex T
Q2.1.3 – Annex U
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Tie Breaker
In the event that the total score between 2 or more bids in a given CPA is equal following evaluation of the qualitative, financial and performance offers then the following process will be used as a tie-breaker to determine which Bidder is awarded a Contract in a given CPA.
The steps of the process have been defined to provide the best value for money for the Department and to align to the wider evaluation approach.
Step 1 – Performance Offer - If 2 or more bids have the same total score having evaluated qualitative, finance and performance offers in a given CPA then the bid with the highest performance offer in that CPA will be considered as the higher scoring bid. Where 2 or more bids at Step 1 have equal performance offers they will proceed to Step 2. Any bids with lower performance offers in Step 1 will not progress to Step 2.
Step 2 – Finance Offer – Unit Cost – If after Step 1, 2 or more bids cannot be separated then the bid offering the lowest overall Unit Cost in the Finance Offer will be considered the higher scoring bid. Where 2 or more bids at Step 2 have equal Unit Cost offers they will proceed to Step 3. Any bids with higher Unit Cost offers in Step 2 will not progress to Step 3.
Step 3 – Weighted Quality Questions – If after Step 2, 2 or more bids cannot be separated then the 5 weighted quality questions will be considered the following priority order:
A) Stakeholder Engagement and Local Integration B
B) Service Delivery Proposal
C) Participant Engagement
D) Social Value
E) Performance Rationale
The highest scoring response to A) will be considered as the higher scoring bid. Where 2 or more bids have equal scores to A), B) will be considered and, if still equal, C) and so on until all weighted questions have been considered. If after all questions have been considered then bids cannot be separated then the top scorers will proceed to Step 4.
Step 4 – Unweighted Quality Questions – If after Step 3, 2 or more bids cannot be separated then the following 5 unweighted qualitative evaluation questions will be considered:
i) Implementation
iv) Supply Chain / Delivery Partners
v) HR, Recruitment and Training.
The bid with the highest total score across all 5 questions will be considered the highest scoring bid. Where bids remain equal, then each question will be considered in turn starting with i) and running through to v).
If after all questions have been considered then bids cannot be separated then the top scorers will proceed to Step 5.
Step 5 – Caseloads - If, following Step 4, 2 or more bids cannot be separated then the maximum caseload as provided in the response to the Participant Engagement question will be considered. The bid with the lower maximum caseload will be considered the higher scoring bid.
Example
The following example sets out how a tie-break will work. In the example CPA 5 bids have been submitted with the following scores relevant to the tie breaker. 4 of the bids have the same overall score and are subject to the tie-breaker
Bid A
Bid B
Bid C
Bid D
Bid E
75
75
72
75
75
7
7
5
7
7
5
7
5
7
7
3
2
5
1
4
In the example, as set out in the table above, Bids A, B, D and E all have equal overall evaluation scores and require a tiebreaker. Bid C’s overall score is lower so the tie-breaker is not required and the bid is therefore 5th position.
Stage 1: Performance Offer - Bids A, B, D and E are considered in Stage 1. The highest performance offer is 32% which applies to bids A, B and D. Bid E’s performance offer is lower at 30% so Bids A, B and D proceed to a further Tie Breaker (Stage 2) and Bid E is 4th position.
Stage 2: Unit Cost – Bids A, B and D are considered in Stage 2. All 3 bids offered a discount of 8% against the overall unit cost so all require a further Stage 3 tie-breaker.
Stage 3: Weighted Questions – Bids A, B and D are considered in Stage 3. All 3 bidders score 7 on the Stakeholder Engagement and Local Integration question so a further tie-breaker is required. All 3 bids also score the same on all 4 other weighted questions in scope at Stage 3 so all require a further Stage 4 tie-breaker.
Stage 4: Unweighted Questions – Bids A, B and D are considered in Stage 4. The first score to be considered at this stage is the total unweighted question score. Bids B and D score a total of 33 across the 5 in-scope questions which Bid A scores 29. Therefore, Bid A is position 3 and Bids B and D require a further tie-breaker. Having considered the total score the individual questions must be considered in order. In the first, Implementation, both Bids B and D score 5. Both bids also score 7 on each of the remaining questions so require a further Stage 5 tie-breaker.
Stage 5. Caseload – Bids B and D are considered in Stage 5. The maximum caseload per advisor quoted by Bid B is 64 and by Bid D is 56. Therefore, the highest scoring provider, in position 1 is Bid D and position 2 is Bid B.
Financial Evaluation
48
19
47
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
The financial evaluation will comprise 35 % of the overall evaluation score for each bid, with the remaining 65 % derived from the quality score.
There are only two permitted variable financial elements of a Restart Bidder’s bid, namely:
· The Performance Offer; and
· Total Contract Value offered.
Any changes required following clarifications should be impacted at the BAFO stage, unless they are not deemed material and would not change the Bidders ranked order.
As the qualitative evaluation process does not measure the cost or performance of the tender offers, the financial evaluation will consider the additional finance and performance aspects.
DWP will assess each Restart Bidder’s bid per CPA in two stages:
· Detailed review and clarification. DWP will conduct a detailed review of Tenders, in order to ensure the consistency of financial and non-financial information. DWP reserves the right to request clarifications where required. This review will ensure that the prices offered are sustainable and in line with more detailed delivery cost assumptions. The detailed costs provided by Restart Bidders in the CCR will be cross-referenced to the information provided within the quality elements of the Tender to ensure that the information correlates.
Note: where clarifications are not deemed to be material or to adjust the ranking of bidders the Authority may reserve clarifications to post-tender.
· For instance, if a Restart Bidder states in their Quality response that there will be 20 staff involved in delivery but the financial cost breakdown identifies only 15, DWP may clarify with the Bidder to establish which is correct, and whether their Tender price needs to be adjusted as a consequence. Any such clarifications will be raised by DWP prior to award.
· Restart Stage 3: Final Offer Scoring and Ranking. Scoring will be undertaken on a relative assessment model. DWP will produce a final ranking of the Stage 3: Final Offers which DWP would expect will have taken into account any adjustments made following the detailed review and any clarifications.
Stage 3: Final Offer Scoring and Ranking
Restart Bidders will be required to complete a separate CCR (Annex S) please refer to Annex A1 of this ITB, a supplementary subcontractor FTE-specific CCR (Annex U) please refer to Annex A3 of this ITB, and a potential extension CCR (Annex T) in respect of each eligible CPA in which they are bidding please refer to Annex A2 of this ITB. This will collate the individual costs for the Total Contract Value.
Following Restart Stage 2: Commercial Dialogue Sessions, Restart Bidders may be invited to submit a Stage 3: Final Offer, which DWP will evaluate.
The Stage 3: Final Offer financial evaluation will be based on the formula below:
Financial Evaluation Metric
(Performance Offer)
Please note that this calculation is used purely for evaluation purposes and in no way represents actual unit prices.
The table below illustrates how changes to the contract value and outcome performance percentage offers will affect the Financial Evaluation Metric.
Financial Scoring Mechanism – Financial Evaluation Metric FOR EVALUATION PURPOSES ONLY:
Provider Ranking
Potential Provider
Performance Offer
1
A
31%
10%
10,451
2
B
30%
4%
12,288
3
C
32%
0%
12,500
It is the Financial Evaluation Metric (FEM) that is compared for all bids received and ranked. The potential provider with the lowest FEM will receive 100 marks and all other bids will be relatively assessed against this bid. For example, if the next bid is 10% higher, they will receive 90 marks.
The Relative Assessment Score will be based on the formula below:
The Relative Assessment Score out of 100 will be taken forward to the overall evaluation scoring model, which brings together the Quality and Finance scores. Within this model, the Relative Assessment Scores are then multiplied by the finance weighting of 0.35 to give an overall financial score. This is then added to the Quality score. The table below gives a worked example.
Finance Relative Assessment Model:
Relative Assessment Scoring Model
Ranking
Abnormally Low Tenders
The Authority wishes to invest as much of the funding available into the Restart service and the quality and type of support available to Participants. The Authority will therefore not accept any tender that discounts the Total Contract Value by more than 10%. The Authority also will not accept Tenders that it believes offers unrealistic performance offers and therefore will not accept tender performance offers above 34%. The design of the Commercial process and evaluation strategy is to receive quality proposals. This process is set to avoid Tenders that the Authority believe are unreasonable, unrealistic and potentially unsustainable. DWP reserves the right to reject a bid that is outside of the range set at BAFO.
Price Sensitive Information
Where a Restart Bidder considers that the nature of information submitted in support of their proposal is particularly price sensitive (e.g. potential to impact share price) they are required to indicate this as “Price Sensitive” and submit in a sealed envelope. Such information will be passed directly to the Senior Commercial Finance Lead, who will be solely responsible for the secure storage. Only the financial lead will have access to view such information (or, in his absence, his nominated representative).
Contractor Financial Capacity (CFC) and Financial Viability Risk Assessment
31
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
The CAEHRS Agreement financial evaluation process included a test of financial standing of:
· an assessment of turnover and solvency ratios was applied to determine the level of business DWP would be content to award to that potential Bidder if they were awarded any future call-off contracts.
· A full Financial Viability Risk Assessment (FVRA) of financial and organisational data
The Restart Bidder can only bid at Stage 3 Final Offer where they hold a Contractor Financial Capacity (CFC) equal to or greater than the Restart Contract Package Area for which they wish to bid.
DWP may adjust the FVRA rating and correspondingly the Financial Capacity of the CAEHRS Bidder if any of the following circumstances arise:
· If DWP in its absolute discretion believes that the financial position of the Bidder, Parent Company or Group could impact significantly on the Financial Viability Risk Assessment of the Bidder, then the Risk Rating and the Financial Capacity may be adjusted accordingly; or
· Where DWP becomes aware of factual evidence (other than the latest financial statements) which indicates that the financial health of the Bidder, Parent Company or Group is significantly different from that portrayed in the latest full audited accounts, for example but not exclusively:
· A court ruling which has financial consequences for the Bidder;
· Loss by the Bidder of a material contract or area of provision;
· A contingent liability of the Bidder crystallising;
· Recall of debt of the Bidder by a bank or other lender;
· Loss of key personnel by the Bidder; or
· Cessation of trading by the Bidder or the Bidder going into receivership, administration or becoming insolvent.
The Financial Capacity value assigned from the CAEHRS framework is a minimum requirement in order to bid. Therefore, if the Bidders Financial Capacity is below the Annual Total Contract Value for a given CPA they will not be allowed to submit a final tender for the respective CPA. The Bidder can submit additional information and supporting evidence to DWP for consideration, which may result in an increased Financial Capacity threshold being granted enabling a final tender to be submitted.
The Authority has confirmed the CFC to Restart Bidders prior to Stage 3 Final Offer.
Contract Cost Register
Please see Annex A1 of these ITB for completion guidance for the CCR.
Annex A1 CCR Instructions
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1.1 Bidders must use the latest Financial documentation (Annex S, T and U), failure to do so may be deemed by the Authority as a non-compliant offer.
1.2 You must complete the CCR documentation and supporting assumptions electronically using the attached model Annex S. As DWP will be administering this stage of the procurement process electronically via the dwp.bravosolution.co.uk portal, the completed workbook should be submitted via the Jaggaer e-Portal. Failure to complete the CCR completely and fully may result in the tender being rejected by the Authority.
27
27.1
1.3 To open, click on the attachment, which should automatically open up the file. The attachment was produced in Microsoft Excel 2010. Please ensure your return CCR template is compatible with Microsoft Excel 2010.
1.4 Upon opening the workbook a security warning will be displayed in respect of a macro which runs once it has been enabled by the user. Please click and enable the content as shown below:
Say ‘Yes’ to making this file a trusted document.
This macro allows the protection of the workbook along with the ability to use the grouping buttons (group/ungroup capability) within the protected workbook. The model is protected to preserve the integrity of the formulas from inadvertent change and to ensure that only required cells can be updated.
1.5 The Workbook contains twenty-Five worksheets which are listed below:
Sheet Title
‘Error Checks’
Summary of all the individual check cells from the individual tabs
‘Contract Cost Register’
A list of costs expected to be incurred in delivery of this contract
‘Monthly Cash Flow Forecast’
‘Recurring Costs’
A forecast of Recurring and Non-recurring Costs to identify one-off and continuous costs.
‘1a. Staff Costs’
‘1b. Staff Costs’
‘2. Accommodation Costs’
‘3. ISIT Costs’
‘4. Participant Costs’
‘5a. Subcontractor Costs’
‘5b. Subcontractor Profiles’
‘5d. Subcontractor Costs Tables’
Summary of the breakdown of costs across each Subcontractor and in total
‘5e. Subcontractor FTE m² Tables’
Summary of the breakdown of FTE man-days in respect of Direct Staff and Management Staff along with a summary office area (m²) being let by Subcontractors.
‘6. Other Operating Costs’
‘7. Consultancy Services Costs’
‘8. Corporate Overhead Costs’
‘9. Other Costs’
Proposed costs in ‘Other’ category
’10. Profit and Risk Premium’
Proposed ‘Profit’ and ‘Risk Premium’ included in the Contract, and VAT status on revenue.
’11. Assets’
’13. Additional Information’
‘14a. Performance Input’
Start date of contract, the Bidder is required to enter the tender performance offer.
‘14b. Performance
A summary of the cohort outcomes based on the data input on ‘14a. Performance Input’. No input required on this worksheet.
1.6 Each worksheet is named in the tabs at the foot of the worksheet. The names of the worksheets are shown within the table at Paragraph 9. To enable ease of use, all cells requiring input are highlighted in yellow throughout the CCR document. Cells highlighted in grey are populated, using formulae, from other data in the workbook.
N.B. throughout the CCR workbook all costs MUST:
· Exclude Bidder’s Output VAT but include any non-reclaimable input VAT (Please see from Paragraphs 23.10-23.14 on VAT)
· Include indexation and inflation, clearing articulating assumptions within the financial documentation and this should be offset by efficiency gains. The Authority will not make any adjustments for these in respect of the payments made during the live running of the contract.
2 Instructions for completion of the CCR document
50
28
2
2.1 It is recommended that Restart Bidders regularly refer to this guidance to ensure that their Restart Tender is completed accurately and robustly. In-depth calculations and assumptions are a mandatory requirement throughout the CCR. Any Managing Agent Fee must be shown in the relevant individual component cost categories.
2.2 DWP requires the Restart Bidder to complete the CCR document on the basis of the planned three years of referrals to the programme and the subsequent services and payments within the following 547 days for Employment Outcomes and 638 days for Self-Employed Outcomes as more particularly described in the Restart Specification.
2.3 DWP has provided a table below which defines the Restart Contract years for purposes of the CCR documentation only:
Contract Year
July 2025 – February 2026
DWP has aspirations for the Service to Go-Live on/around 28th June.
Enter Bidder details in ‘Declaration’ Worksheet
2.4 Within the ‘Declaration’ worksheet, please enter the name of the organisation bidding for this contract in Cell D4.
2.5 In Cell D6 select the Contract Package Area (CPA) from the dropdown box for which the CCR template is applicable to. Please ensure this is the CPA the Bidder wishes to submit a bid for. Please note that there is a separate CCR template required for each CPA the Bidder submits.
2.6 From Row 12 to 67, the Contract Costs will be populated automatically from inputs within other worksheets. Please note that the ‘Contract Costs’ section is on an accruals basis not a cash basis.
2.7 The Delivery Fee for this contract is 30% of the Estimated Possible Total Contract Value (EPTCV) based on initial tender value. This will be profiled as per the table below based on a 1st July 2021 go-live date.
Month
1
4.00%
0.25%
2.8 The Delivery Fee will be paid on a monthly basis in arrears, at a date to be agreed. The Delivery Fee will be paid on a monthly basis in respect of each month in which Referrals are made and the 12 months following, up to a maximum of 48 months.
2.9 The ‘Total Contract Value’ is derived from the ‘Total Bidder Costs’ combined with any ‘Risk Premium’ and ‘Profit’ included in the Contract. Please note DWP requires the ‘Total Contract Value’ to be no greater than the ‘Total Contract Funding’ which is displayed in Cell B18 of ‘14b. Performance Summary’ worksheet.
2.10 In Cell D73, DWP would like the Restart Bidder to input their Companies House registration number, where applicable.
2.11 The section from Row 84 to Row 118 wishes to identify the Restart Bidder’s type of organisation, legal status and business strategy.
2.12 The final part of this section is the Declaration. When the Bidder is satisfied all the data input within the CCR is a true and fair reflection of the Bidders cost data, please complete Cell B126 – B128.
3 ‘Error Checks’ Worksheet Guidance
3.1 Throughout the model there are checks to ensure the accuracy of the model and the data input.
3.2 It is vital that the ‘Error Checks’ tab is reviewed before it is submitted.
3.3 On first opening the ‘Error Checks’ tab, you will see a summary of every tab within the model. In Column G, is a count of the number of TRUE, FALSE and ERRORS that have been found by tab.
3.4 If there are no errors on a tab then the tab name will be shaded green, as shown below:
3.5 If there are errors on a tab then they must be investigated, the tab will look like this:
3.6 To see where the errors are within a tab ‘Ungroup’ the rows by clicking on the + on the left hand side.
3.7 Once ungrouped all of the individual error flags on a tab are reported. In column B there is a hyperlink which will take you to the error on the tab.
3.8 Please review what has caused the error and take action to correct it.
3.9 If for any reason you are unable to correct the error, then please add an explanation in the yellow cells next to the error flag (column I).
3.10 The expectation is that all of the tab names will be shaded green and therefore there will be no errors within the submitted model.
4 ‘Contract Cost Register’ Worksheet Guidance
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4.1 The ‘Contract Cost Register’ sets out a list of costs, set out by DWP, expected to be incurred in delivery of this Contract.
4.2 DWP requires the Bidder to continuously read the descriptions set out next to each category, thus ensuring that all costs are correctly categorised.
4.3 DWP has categorised the costs into nine categories:
· Staff Costs
· Accommodation Costs
· ISIT Costs
· Participant Costs
· Subcontractor Costs
· Corporate Overheads
· Other Costs
4.4 The cost categories set out are classified as the ‘Allowable’ costs for this Restart Contract. For a cost to deemed ‘Allowable’ it must meet the following criteria:
· Appropriate – the cost would be expected to be incurred in the conduct of delivering the service in question and should be able to withstand public scrutiny.
· Attributable – the cost is incurred in fulfilment of the service
· Reasonable – the cost should not exceed what might be expected to be incurred in the normal delivery of the service
4.5 For each cost line DWP wishes to understand the percentage split between each ‘cost type’. The ‘cost types’ are listed below with an explanation of what each means. For this exercise please ensure the total adds up to 100% and therefore the whole cost line is covered. The definition of each ‘cost type’ is provided below:
· Column I: ‘Fixed’ – This cost is constant, irrespective of activity levels and other measures of activity, for example rent which would be fixed by the terms of a lease.
· Column K: ‘Variable’ - This cost varies in relation to changes in the business activity, for example staff salaries or participant costs which are subject to volume.
· Column M: ‘Semi-variable’ – This is a cost that varies in relation to changes in the business activity, for example telephony and communications which will have a fixed and semi-variable element.
4.6 The split between cost types is very important and the authority requires that an appropriate degree of accuracy is applied to this section, it would not be a reasonable approach to mark every line as Fixed.
4.7 In Column N, DWP wishes to understand what the ‘Cost Drivers’ are for each cost line. A ‘Cost Driver’ is defined as ‘the business activity that triggers a change in the value of a cost line’. For ‘Variable’ costs please explain the relevant ‘Cost Driver’ for each cost line. For ‘Semi-variable’ costs please explain what the ‘Cost Drivers’ are and at what point the change in value of costs is triggered.
4.8 In Column O, please note the estimated number of months it will take to vary a cost which has a variable or semi-variable element.
4.9 The assumptions for the length of time it may take to vary the cost line either increasing or decreasing must be entered in Column P. For example, number of months in Column O is 4 for Direct Staff, the entry in Column P may state ‘changes to direct staff require 4 months minimum to change due to recruitment, notice period and redundancy requirements.’.
4.10 In Column Q, please ensure each line from Row 16 – 58 does not contain “FALSE”. This is conditionally formatted to ensure all the ‘Cost type’ options add up to 100%. DWP will ask the Bidder to re-submit their CCR document if there are any “False” displayed in this Column.
5 ‘Monthly Cash Flow Forecast’ Worksheet Guidance
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5.1 DWP requires a monthly Cash Flow Forecast which will aid us in understanding Restart maximum working capital requirements and break-even points in the Contract. Please input the forecasted monthly Cash Flow for each cost line (Rows 12 - 62) for the whole life of the Contract.
5.2 As this profile is on a Cash Flow basis, DWP expects the totals of ‘Total Bidder Costs’ for the whole Contract should be equal to the ‘Total Bidder Costs’ in the ‘Declaration’. Cell BX64 should show “TRUE” to indicate this is the case.
5.3 You only need to complete the cells in Yellow. Your revenue will be derived from your costs entered in the Monthly Cash Flow Forecast breakdown, the annual Monthly breakdown should match back to the costs in tab 1a Staff Costs through to tab 9 Other Costs.
5.4 Rows 75-77 show ‘Cumulative Revenue’ against ‘Cumulative Costs’ which then calculates a ‘Surplus or Deficit’. The month at which this first displays a positive figure will represent the forecasted break-even point. The maximum working capital requirement will be determined by the lowest cumulative deficit figure.
6 Recurring Costs Worksheet Guidance
6.1 DWP requires the monthly breakdown by percentage of recurring and non-recurring Costs. Table 1 will be derived from the Bidder costs entered in the Monthly Cash Flow Forecast Breakdown
6.2 A recurring cost is one where the cost is not expected to be impacted by the length of the programme. For example, the rent or mortgage payments for accommodation is a recurring cost however the fit-out costs will be non-recurring. Costs to maintain web pages are recurring but the initial costs for setup are not.
6.3 A non-recurring cost is one where the cost is not expected to continue. For example, one off costs to fit-out property, costs to purchase a mobile phone, laptop or other hardware.
6.4 Table 2 Row 72 – 122 requires an entry in the yellow shaded cells. The entry must be a percentage to show the proportion of the monthly cash flow which will be a recurring cost.
For example, a one-off cost for IT Software in Month 1 would have 0% however, Rent / Lease / Mortgage notes 100% recurring until month 40 which reduces to 50% as the accommodation rent agreement ends and the delivery of the remainder of the contract uses hired meeting rooms as required.
7 Completion of Sheets 1 – 10
7.1 Worksheets 1 – 10 require the Restart Bidder to complete a list of all costs that will be incurred in delivery of this Contract. In addition to costs, it will also ask the Restart Bidder to state the levels of Risk Premium and Profit included in the bid. All cost figures must be input in £ (GB).
7.2 This guidance sets out instruction for the completion of all cost categories within the CCR document. An example of the calculation table used in the majority of cost lines is below:
8 Generic Guidance for Completion of Calculation Tables
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8.1 Please ensure you read the description for each category carefully, ensuring that all costs are categorised appropriately within the CCR.
8.2 All cost calculations and detailed assumptions that the Restart Bidder has made to arrive at the cost must be disclosed. This level of detail is required to help DWP understand how the Restart Bidder has calculated the costs.
8.3 It is mandatory for Restart Bidders to show complete calculations for all significant costs and Restart Bidders must include all sub-costs; e.g. where a cost is made up of several smaller calculations these should also be provided. This provides the opportunity for DWP to replicate the calculation to be assured of accuracy and understand how the underlying assumptions may impact cost.
8.4 This section introduces mandatory calculation tables for the Restart Bidder to provide full cost calculations. While the tables are free format to allow Restart Bidders opportunity to set out the calculations as they wish, the spreadsheet provides cells in a tabular format to help set out the calculation. Examples of calculation table completion are included in the relevant sections within this guidance document. Please note, any examples, including the figures used, are purely for illustrative purposes only.
8.5 Calculation tables are free format; however, there is a formula to calculate the total cost for each Year. You will find this at the bottom row for each table. Please ensure that for each sub line of costs, the total cost is included in the ‘Cost (£)’ column so that the total aggregates for each year.
8.6 Restart Bidders must provide full and detailed underlying assumptions to explain how the costs provided in the calculation tables have been determined. This includes all sub-calculations made when calculating an overall category of cost.
8.7 These tables are password protected to prevent required formula being deleted or amended in error and as such Restart Bidders are unable to extend the tables within this worksheet. If Restart Bidders find there is insufficient room, please use the ’13. Additional Information’ worksheet.
9 ‘1a. Staff Costs’ Worksheet Guidance
Section 1.1 – Direct Staff Costs
9.1 The Restart Bidder is required to input a monthly profile of Direct Staffing levels across the life of the contract. In ‘Table 1 – FTE Profile’, from Cells B20 – B59, input the Direct Staff Job Roles that will be required in delivery of this Contract. Please note, between Cells B20 – B59 you are required to type over the current Job Role, rather than deleting and re-typing. This will ensure hyperlinks remain in document for ease of use.
9.2 The Job Roles that you input between Cells B20 – B59 in ‘Table 1 – FTE Profile’ should now automatically correspond with ‘Table 2 – Average Salaries’ Cells B64 – B103.
9.3 In ‘Table 1 – FTE Profile’, please enter a monthly volume profile of Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) used in delivery of the Contract. The months’ costs allowable are listed between Cells C19 – BJ19. We require a monthly profile for each Job Role listed in Cells B20 – B59.
9.4 In ‘Table 2 – Average Salary’, for each Job Role listed in Cells B64 – B103, we require a monthly profile of the average salary. This should be input between Columns C – BJ for each appropriate month and thereafter. Any pay-rise should be reflected in the appropriate month. Any bonus should be reflected in the average salaries – either as uplift across the months or a lump sum in the appropriate month. However, for cash flow purposes it should be entered as a lump sum. Please ensure the average salary is the full cost to you, as the employer, and includes any employers NI or Pension contributions made.
9.5 Example: If you have the Job Role “Work Coach” and you have profiled 5.0 FTE for August 2021 with a monthly salary cost to the Bidder of £3,000 per FTE. The Job Role “Work Coach” will be entered into Cell B20. In Cell C20, you will profile the number “5.0” as the FTE in that particular month. In Cell C64, you will profile “£3,000” as the total monthly average salary per FTE. This structure should be followed throughout the table.
9.6 Cell C148 will calculate the total cost each month based on the information the Bidder has input. In the example worked above, as this is 5.0 FTE x £3,000 it would total at £15,000 cost for that given month.
Section 1.2 – Management Staff Costs
9.7 This category should include general management, for example Performance and Supply Chain Managers. Management of direct staff should be included in ‘Direct Staff costs&r