Tender

Invitation to Tender (ITT) For Social Mobility 'State of The Nation' 2023

  • Social Mobility Commission

F02: Contract notice

Notice identifier: 2022/S 000-008912

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-03296b

Published 1 April 2022, 5:28pm



Section one: Contracting authority

one.1) Name and addresses

Social Mobility Commission

Sanctuary Building

London

SW1P3BT

Contact

Colin Seymour

Email

Colin.Seymour@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UKI32 - Westminster

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/social-mobility-commission

one.3) Communication

The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at

https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html

Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address

Tenders or requests to participate must be submitted electronically via

https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Other type

Advisory Non Departmental Public Body (NDPB)

one.5) Main activity

Other activity

Social Mobility


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

Invitation to Tender (ITT) For Social Mobility 'State of The Nation' 2023

Reference number

SMC-2223-36

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 79315000 - Social research services

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) monitors progress towards improving social mobility in the UK and promotes social mobility in England. It is an independent statutory body created by an Act of Parliament.

As part of its remit, the Commission undertakes an annual State of the Nation report. This report is part of the Commission's statutory duty to monitor UK-wide progress on social mobility each year. The production and synthesis of key statistics related to social mobility will be the central part for the report, which will be published by 31 March 2023, in order to examine, for example, social mobility 'hot' and 'cold' spots in the UK, and break down social mobility by protected characteristics.

For 2023, the SMC will, for the first time, fully operationalise its new Social Mobility Index: a refreshed measurement framework (the SMI). The new framework completely revises the previous social mobility index, which ran from 2016 to 2017.

The new and improved SMI offers a much more accurate and robust framework to measure social mobility. It includes four main components: drivers (or enablers), intermediate outcomes (such as educational attainment) and their relationship to socio-economic background; the overlap between socio-economic background and characteristics such as sex, ethnicity, disability and place; and eventual social mobility outcomes with respect to occupation, income, education, housing and wealth.

The 2023 report will therefore have some similarities to the 2017 and 2022 State of the Nation Reports. It will build on the work of these reports to analyse the social and economic drivers and indicators of people's social mobility. As the old index did, we envision this updated one to also assess how social mobility outcomes compare in national, regional and local geographic places. We focus on measuring the extent to which rates of social mobility are improving over time in the UK and across the different parts of the UK, and which specific groups in society have greater or lesser chances of social mobility.

The SMC is looking for a supplier who can provide robust analyses both from cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives, and interpret these statistics to give a clear narrative about what they mean for social mobility. The SMC is seeking a supplier who can work with the secretariat to provide analytical and statistical outputs and provide clear instruction for how the team can conduct the same analyses in future. Replicable analytical procedures form a key component of what we require to ensure the team gains analytical independence to conduct the same analyses in future. The SMC also expects a supplier to bring a high level of quality assurance to the work, arranging for independent analytical checks throughout the project.

Additionally, having the ability to interpret and support the SMC to provide a narrative around these findings is vital, particularly in light of the wide-ranging impacts of Covid-19 on social mobility. The SMC will therefore be assessing bids both for evidence of being able to deliver the analytical work and interpreting the findings in a wider social mobility context.

Please see the Jaggaer e-procurement portal. https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html

for the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document and further details.

Bidders must submit their Bids before 12 Noon on 2 May 2022. All Bids must be submitted through the Jaggaer e-procurement portal. https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html

Failure to return Bids by the time and due date or in the required format may disqualify Bidders from consideration.

two.1.5) Estimated total value

Value excluding VAT: £150,000

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.2) Description

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 73210000 - Research consultancy services
    • RD07 - In social sciences

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

The Social Mobility Commission (SMC) monitors progress towards improving social mobility in the UK and promotes social mobility in England. It is an independent statutory body created by an Act of Parliament and is sponsored by the Cabinet Office.

As part of its remit, the Commission undertakes an annual State of the Nation report. This report is part of the Commission's statutory duty to monitor UK-wide progress on social mobility each year. The production and synthesis of key statistics related to social mobility will be the central part for the report, which will be published by 31 March 2023, in order to examine, for example, social mobility 'hot' and 'cold' spots in the UK, and break down social mobility by protected characteristics.

The Commission is seeking a supplier to provide new and insightful analysis on key statistics for inclusion in our State of the Nation report this year. The successful supplier will create these statistics and work with our internal report team to interpret and build a narrative around these figures for the 2023 report. This report forms part of the Commission's statutory remit and is laid before parliament.

For 2023, the SMC will, for the first time, fully operationalise its new Social Mobility Index: a refreshed measurement framework (the SMI). The new framework completely revises the previous social mobility index, which ran from 2016 to 2017. This previous index focussed on differences in children's educational outcomes across English local authorities, together with some measures of social conditions (but did not include any final social mobility outcomes at all). In other words, it told us what local areas were doing well on various education and employment measures, but not actually what the rates of social mobility were.

The new and improved SMI offers a much more accurate and robust framework to measure social mobility. It includes four main components: drivers (or enablers), intermediate outcomes (such as educational attainment) and their relationship to socio-economic background; the overlap between socio-economic background and characteristics such as sex, ethnicity, disability and place; and eventual social mobility outcomes with respect to occupation, income, education, housing and wealth.

The 2023 report will therefore have some similarities to the 2017 and 2022 State of the Nation Reports. It will build on the work of these reports to analyse the social and economic drivers and indicators of people's social mobility. As the old index did, we envision this updated one to also assess how social mobility outcomes compare in national, regional and local geographic places. We focus on measuring the extent to which rates of social mobility are improving over time in the UK and across the different parts of the UK, and which specific groups in society have greater or lesser chances of social mobility.

The SMC is looking for a supplier who can provide robust analyses both from cross-sectional and longitudinal perspectives, and interpret these statistics to give a clear narrative about what they mean for social mobility. The SMC is seeking a supplier who can work with the secretariat to provide analytical and statistical outputs and provide clear instruction for how the team can conduct the same analyses in future. Replicable analytical procedures form a key component of what we require to ensure the team gains analytical independence to conduct the same analyses in future. The SMC also expects a supplier to bring a high level of quality assurance to the work, arranging for independent analytical checks throughout the project.

Additionally, having the ability to interpret and support the SMC to provide a narrative around these findings is vital, particularly in light of the wide-ranging impacts of Covid-19 on social mobility. The SMC will therefore be assessing bids both for evidence of being able to deliver the analytical work and interpreting the findings in a wider social mobility context.

Please see the Jaggaer e-procurement portal. https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html

for the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document and further details.

Bidders must submit their Bids before 12 Noon on 2 May 2022. All Bids must be submitted through the Jaggaer e-procurement portal. https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html

Failure to return Bids by the time and due date or in the required format may disqualify Bidders from consideration.

two.2.5) Award criteria

Price is not the only award criterion and all criteria are stated only in the procurement documents

two.2.6) Estimated value

Value excluding VAT: £150,000

two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system

Duration in months

10

This contract is subject to renewal

No

two.2.10) Information about variants

Variants will be accepted: No

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: Yes

Description of options

The Contracting Authority has the option to extend the contract for a further 3 months.


Section three. Legal, economic, financial and technical information

three.1) Conditions for participation

three.1.2) Economic and financial standing

Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents

three.1.3) Technical and professional ability

Selection criteria as stated in the procurement documents


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.1) Type of procedure

Open procedure

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

four.2) Administrative information

four.2.2) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

Date

2 May 2022

Local time

12:00pm

four.2.4) Languages in which tenders or requests to participate may be submitted

English

four.2.6) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender

Tender must be valid until: 17 May 2022

four.2.7) Conditions for opening of tenders

Date

2 May 2022

Local time

12:01pm


Section six. Complementary information

six.1) Information about recurrence

This is a recurrent procurement: No

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

The High Court

Strand

London

WC2A 2LL

Country

United Kingdom

Internet address

https://www.gov.uk/courts-tribunals

six.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained

Social Mobility Commission

Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street

London

SW1P 3BT

Email

colin.seymour@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom