Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
Corporate Officers of the House of Lords and House of Commons
Parliament Square
LONDON
SW1A 0AA
Contact
Vix Gladwin
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKI32 - Westminster
National registration number
210715608
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
GSV2667 - ICGS Helpline Support Services
Reference number
GSV2667
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72253000 - Helpdesk and support services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Authority are seeking a single supplier to provide telephone and email telephone support services to investigate complaints of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct.
Section six. Complementary information
six.6) Original notice reference
Notice number: 2024/S 000-011834
Section seven. Changes
seven.1.2) Text to be corrected in the original notice
Section number
II.2.4.1
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The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) was established in 2018 as Parliament’s independent mechanism for investigating complaints of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct. It is open to all current and former members of the parliamentary community as well as visitors to the parliamentary estate in Westminster. For context, the ICGS service currently supports circa 10,000 staff including MPs, Peers and their staff as well as administrative staff across the House of Lords and House of Commons. This figure does not include visitors to the estate or contractors. An external supplier has been delivering a remote independent helpline to support those seeking advice on bullying and harassment and sexual misconduct issues since July 2020 and this notice invites organisations to express their interest in being considered for the new procurement competition. Those who express an interest will be requested to sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to be invited to a presentation to find out more about the contract. The Authority plans to publish the Contract Notice on Find a Tender in April 2024.Following consultation with stakeholders on the effectiveness of the current helpline in late 2023/early 2024 it has been decided to adopt a hybrid approach for the new contract which is currently being expanded on and will be detailed in the service specification. Stakeholders were asked to give their preference on 3 options as follows: i) a helpline which maintains total external independence, but with updated requirements on quality assurance and information sharing ii) moving all services in-house to be delivered by parliamentary staff iii) a hybrid model with some services being delivered externally and others being delivered collaboratively by an external supplier and in-house staff. There remains a strong desire for an externally delivered helpline acknowledging that it is a challenge for any external supplier to develop strong knowledge of the operational side of parliament. As a result of the consultation, the decision has been made to pursue option iii) a hybrid approach. The successful supplier will be expected to deliver bespoke services to support the ICGS including a dedicated helpline service with both telephone and email options for callers inquiring about bullying and harassment and sexual misconduct, as well as offering emotional support, where required. The service must take formal complaints from service users and forward them to the ICGS team for investigation. Additional personal support provided by Independent Sexual Violence Advocates (ISVA) must be available for any service user experiencing sexual misconduct. The service will be required from Monday to Friday 9.00am-6.00pm, excluding Bank Holidays, with an out of hours answerphone service with an expected response to calls which will be detailed in the specification.The contract will be for an initial term of two years with two optional one year extensions (2+1+1 maximum term of four years) and the projected cumulative expenditure is circa £480,000 assuming a contract of four years is taken up. Before being issued with the tender documents interested parties must sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA). The ITT will be issued on Friday 19th April around 2.00pm. Any party who has already signed and returned an NDA following the Prior Information Notice already published does not need to sign another NDA. Please contact Paul Younger to receive the NDA by email at – youngerpb@parliament.uk or alternatively contact pcd@parliament.uk.
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The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) was established in 2018 as Parliament’s independent mechanism for investigating complaints of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct. It is open to all current and former members of the parliamentary community as well as visitors to the parliamentary estate in Westminster. For context, the ICGS service currently supports circa 10,000 staff including MPs, Peers and their staff as well as administrative staff across the House of Lords and House of Commons. This figure does not include visitors to the estate or contractors. An external supplier has been delivering a remote independent helpline to support those seeking advice on bullying and harassment and sexual misconduct issues since July 2020 and this notice invites organisations to express their interest in being considered for the new procurement competition. Those who express an interest in receiving the tender documents will be requested to sign a non-disclosure agreement to find out more about the contract. The Authority plans to publish the ITT one week after the publication of this notice. Following consultation with stakeholders on the effectiveness of the current helpline in late 2023/early 2024 it has been decided to adopt a hybrid approach for the new contract which is currently being expanded on and will be detailed in the service specification. Stakeholders were asked to give their preference on 3 options as follows: i) a helpline which maintains total external independence, but with updated requirements on quality assurance and information sharing ii) moving all services in-house to be delivered by parliamentary staff iii) a hybrid model with some services being delivered externally and others being delivered collaboratively by an external supplier and in-house staff. There remains a strong desire for an externally delivered helpline acknowledging that it is a challenge for any external supplier to develop strong knowledge of the operational side of parliament. As a result of the consultation, the decision has been made to pursue option iii) a hybrid approach. The successful supplier will be expected to deliver bespoke services to support the ICGS including a dedicated helpline service with both telephone and email options for callers inquiring about bullying and harassment and sexual misconduct, as well as offering emotional support, where required. The service must take formal complaints from service users and forward them to the ICGS team for investigation. Additional personal support provided by Independent Sexual Violence Advocates (ISVA) must be available for any service user experiencing sexual misconduct. The service will be required from Monday to Friday 9.00am-6.00pm, excluding Bank Holidays, with an out of hours answerphone service with an expected response to calls which will be detailed in the specification.The contract will be for an initial term of two years with two optional one year extensions (2+1+1 maximum term of four years) and the projected cumulative expenditure is circa £480,000 excluding VAT assuming a contract of four years is taken up. Before being issued with the tender documents interested parties must sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA). The ITT will be issued on Friday 19th April around 2.00pm. Any party who has already signed and returned an NDA following the Prior Information Notice already published does not need to sign another NDA. Please contact Paul Younger to receive the NDA by email at – youngerpb@parliament.uk or alternatively contact pcd@parliament.uk.
Section number
I.4.0.1
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Text
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
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Body governed by public law