Area Based Approach Pilot for Big Lottery Fund

The Big Lottery Fund is seeking a suitably qualified service provider (or a consortium of suitably qualified service providers) to co-ordinate support and development services to pilot an Area Based Approach in building the capabilities of below the radar voluntary sector organisations, that traditionally struggle to access support and funding.

United Kingdom-London: Research and development services and related consultancy services

2014/S 250-444792

Contract notice

Services

Directive 2004/18/EC

Section I: Contracting authority

I.1)Name, addresses and contact point(s)

Big Lottery Fund
1 Plough Place
For the attention of: Punim Anda
EC4A 1DE London
UNITED KINGDOM
E-mail: procurement@biglotteryfund.org.uk

Internet address(es):

General address of the contracting authority: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/

Electronic access to information: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/index/about-uk/procurement_portal.htm

Electronic submission of tenders and requests to participate: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/index/about-uk/procurement_portal.htm

Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)

Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)

I.2)Type of the contracting authority

Body governed by public law

I.3)Main activity

Other: Grant awarding body

I.4)Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities

The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: no

Section II: Object of the contract

II.1)Description

II.1.1)Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority:

Building Capabilities for Impact and Legacy — Area Based Approach Pilot, ref: BIG001-0576.

II.1.2)Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance

Services
Service category No 27: Other services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: England.
NUTS code

II.1.3)Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)

The notice involves a public contract

II.1.4)Information on framework agreement

II.1.5)Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

The Big Lottery Fund (‘the Fund’) is seeking a suitably qualified service provider (or a consortium of suitably qualified service providers) to co-ordinate support and development services to pilot an Area Based Approach (‘ABA’) in building the capabilities of below the radar voluntary sector organisations, that traditionally struggle to access support and funding. As well as directly improving the skills, knowledge and confidence of voluntary organisations in 5 local areas the Fund has selected, this pilot aims to develop the evidence base about how capability building support can enable voluntary organisations to deliver outcomes to their beneficiaries more effectively and sustainably.
The 5 areas selected for this pilot are:
— Sunderland;
— Torbay;
— Barking and Dagenham;
— Peterborough;
— Blackpool.
The service provider will need to provide the following services:
— Put together a ‘menu’ of support services delivered by expert support providers;
— Administer a programme where local front line organisations can receive a health check (diagnostic assessment) and signposting service about their support needs and receive a report summarising the findings;
— Administer a grant scheme where local Front Line Organisations can choose from the menu of support services. Through this contract the Fund is looking to award around 500 grants to eligible FLOs in the 5 areas. The Fund has allocated a minimum grant budget of 1 300 000 GBP of for this grant scheme;
— Appoint an independent evaluation and learning partner and work with that partner to determine the evaluation framework and deliver evaluation and learning activities for this pilot;
— Promote and raise awareness of the grant scheme in the 5 pilot areas.
The initial term of the contract is 2 years and the estimated value of the contract for the initial term is up to 700 000 GBP inclusive of VAT and expenses for meeting all of the Fund’s requirements as specified in this ITT. The Fund has allocated a minimum of 1 300 000 GBP to be disbursed as grant funding under this contract during the initial term. The Fund may reallocate any unused contract fees to the grant pot.
The Fund shall have the right to extend the scope and/or term of the contract at its discretion as follows:
— Extend the initial term of the contract for a further period of 3 years. For example, to keep the grant funding process open to FLOs in the 5 pilot areas for up to a further 3 years. The potential value of this extension is up to 1 050 000 GBP (this excludes the funds that would be made available for grant awards);
— The Fund shall have the option to extend the contract to include the expansion of the services to up to a further 20 areas in England. The potential value of this extension is up to 3 500 000 GBP inclusive of VAT and expenses (this excludes the funds that would be made available for grant awards).
The Fund is running a Bidder Briefing Session at its London Office (1 Plough Place, London EC4A 1DE) at 13:00 to 14:00 on Friday 16.1.2015. If you would like to attend please follow the instructions set out in the invitation to tender to confirm your attendance.

Further information about the Fund’s requirements is contained in the invitation to tender which can be downloaded fromhttp://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/about-big/tender-opportunities

II.1.6)Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

73000000, 79420000, 75100000, 79315000

II.1.7)Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA): yes

II.1.8)Lots

This contract is divided into lots: no

II.1.9)Information about variants

Variants will be accepted: no

II.2)Quantity or scope of the contract

II.2.1)Total quantity or scope:

The initial term of the contract is 2 years and the estimated value of the contract for the initial term is up to 700 000 GBP inclusive of VAT and expenses for meeting all of the Fund’s requirements as specified in this ITT. Bids in excess of this amount will be excluded from the tender process. The Fund has allocated a minimum of 1 300 000 GBP to be disbursed as grant funding under this contract during the initial term. The Fund may reallocate any unused contract fees to the grant pot.
The Fund shall have the right to extend the scope and/or term of the contract at its discretion as follows:
— Extend the initial term of the contract for a further period of 3 years. For example, to keep the grant funding process open to FLOs in the 5 pilot areas for up to a further 3 years. The potential value of this extension is up to 1 050 000 GBP (this excludes the funds that would be made available for grant awards);
— The Fund shall have the option to extend the contract to include the expansion of the services to up to a further 20 areas in England. The potential value of this extension is up to 3 500 000 GBP inclusive of VAT and expenses (this excludes the funds that would be made available for grant awards).
If the Fund decides to take up any of the options, the cost for the additional services will be based on (and must not exceed) the pricing submitted in the successful bidder’s response.
Estimated value excluding VAT:
Range: between 583 333,33 and 4 375 000 GBP

II.2.2)Information about options

Options: yes
Description of these options: As described at II.2.1) above.

II.2.3)Information about renewals

This contract is subject to renewal: yes
Number of possible renewals: Range: between 1 and 3
In the case of renewable supplies or service contracts, estimated timeframe for subsequent contracts:
in months: 36 (from the award of the contract)

II.3)Duration of the contract or time limit for completion

Duration in months: 24 (from the award of the contract)

Section III: Legal, economic, financial and technical information

III.1)Conditions relating to the contract

III.1.1)Deposits and guarantees required:

Parent Company Guarantees and other security may be required in respect of some or all of the service provider’s obligations.

III.1.2)Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:

Payments will be made in accordance with the conditions of contract.

III.1.3)Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:

Joint and several liability. Should the successful tenderer be a consortium of organisations, the Contracting Authority reserves the right to require a successful consortium to form a single entity. The Contracting Authority will require the lead partner to be responsible for completing the contract on behalf of the consortium and enter into a contract with the Contracting Authority. Other consortium members will be required to enter into back to back subcontracts with consortium members.

III.1.4)Other particular conditions

The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: yes

Description of particular conditions: As stated in the tender documents which can be downloaded at: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/about-big/tender-opportunities

III.2)Conditions for participation

III.2.1)Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: As a minimum bidders must confirm that the circumstances set out in Article 45(1) and 45(2) of Directive 2004/18/EC or or Regulation 23(1) or 23(4) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended) do not apply. Bidders that do not confirm this will be excluded from the competition.

III.2.2)Economic and financial ability

Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required: (1) Bidders are required to have adequate financial standing to perform the services without putting the Authority at risk. The financial ability of bidders will be assessed before their tender is evaluated as follows:
In order for us to carry out this assessment please provide copies of your last 2 year’s audited accounts and annual reports to include:
— Balance Sheet;
— Profit and Loss Account and Cost of Sales;
— Full notes to the accounts;
— Director’s report/auditor’s report.
If you are unable to submit the information requested above because your organisation is below the threshold for which audited accounts are required, please submit the following documents instead:
— Balance Sheet;
— Profit and Loss Statement.
If you are unable to submit the information requested above for the most recent financial year because such information is not yet audited, please submit management accounts for that period.
If you rely on the accounts and other financial information of your parent company please submit the parent company guarantee in the form stated in Part II of Annex 5 of the ITT.
Failure to achieve this minimum requirement and pass the financial assessment shall result in the bidder being excluded from further participation in the tender competition.
(2) Bids that exceed 700 000 GBP (including VAT and expenses) for the services required in the initial 2 year term will be excluded from further consideration in the tender process.

III.2.3)Technical capacity

Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
(1) The Fund requires bidders to have a minimum of 2 years experience in delivering similar services of this type value and complexity. Bidders are required to provide evidence of their:
— ability to understand local context, barriers and opportunities in the voluntary and community sector;
— experience of developing and delivering organisational diagnostics to VCS organisations;
— experience in critically analysing, evaluating and reporting on the impact of new approaches using sound evaluation methodology; and
— experience of administering grant funding, particularly the running of small grant schemes.
This evidence must be supported by references. The referee should be prepared to speak to the Fund to confirm the accuracy of the information provided.
Bidders are required to provide the following details in relation to each contract relied on as evidence:
— length of contract;
— value; and
— current status
(2) Bidders are also required to provide evidence of their ability and capacity to deliver the potential options to the scope and term of the contract as outlined on paragraph 4 of Section 2 (Scope of Work) of the ITT.
(3) Bidders must have a formal quality management system in place. Please provide evidence (documentation or certificates) demonstrating you have a formal quality management system in place.
(4) As a minimum the bidder must submit a complete tender in accordance with every instruction and requirement set out in the ITT.

III.2.4)Information about reserved contracts

III.3)Conditions specific to services contracts

III.3.1)Information about a particular profession

Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession: no

III.3.2)Staff responsible for the execution of the service

Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service: no

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)Type of procedure

IV.1.1)Type of procedure

Open

IV.1.2)Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

IV.1.3)Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

IV.2)Award criteria

IV.2.1)Award criteria

The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

IV.2.2)Information about electronic auction

An electronic auction will be used: no

IV.3)Administrative information

IV.3.1)File reference number attributed by the contracting authority:

BIG001-0576

IV.3.2)Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

IV.3.3)Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document

Payable documents: no

IV.3.4)Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

16.2.2015 – 12:00

IV.3.5)Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up

English.

IV.3.7)Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender

in days: 90 (from the date stated for receipt of tender)

IV.3.8)Conditions for opening of tenders

Section VI: Complementary information

VI.1)Information about recurrence

This is a recurrent procurement: no

VI.2)Information about European Union funds

The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no

VI.3)Additional information

VI.4)Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)Body responsible for appeal procedures

The High Court, The Royal Courts of Justice
WC4A 2LL London
UNITED KINGDOM
Telephone: +44 207946000

VI.4.2)Lodging of appeals

Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: The Contracting Authority will incorporate a standstill period of 10 calendar days at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenderers. That notification will provide full information on the award decision. Further information is set out in the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (SI 2006 No 5) as amended.

VI.4.3)Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)Date of dispatch of this notice:

24.12.2014