Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Westminster City Council
64 Victoria Street
London
.
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKI - London
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.2) Information about joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Regional or local authority
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Face to Face Payments
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 98300000 - Miscellaneous services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Westminster City Council requires a face-to-face service for:
the collection of payments from customers who hold a barcoded bill
remit the amount of payment received by the customer to the Authority
transmit the transaction data to the Authority within twelve (12) hours after the cut off time of the transaction taking place.
Payments could be made by credit or debit card, cash or cheque.
The services must be available at multiple locations within the Authority’s borough of Westminster and across the country to allow maximum coverage and options to pay and facilities must be fully compliant with the Equalities Act.
The locations must be fully operational during the following minimum core hours:
Monday – Friday: 09:00 am – 17.30 pm
Saturday: 09.00 am – 12:30 pm.
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £200,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 75100000 - Administration services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKI - London
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Westminster City Council requires a face-to-face service for:
the collection of payments from customers who hold a barcoded bill
remit the amount of payment received by the customer to the Authority
transmit the transaction data to the Authority within twelve (12) hours after the cut off time of the transaction taking place.
Payments could be made by credit or debit card, cash or cheque.
The services must be available at multiple locations within the Authority’s borough of Westminster and across the country to allow maximum coverage and options to pay and facilities must be fully compliant with the Equalities Act.
The locations must be fully operational during the following minimum core hours:
Monday – Friday: 09:00 am – 17.30 pm
Saturday: 09.00 am – 12:30 pm.
two.2.14) Additional information
The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to initiate a market engagement exercise to gauge the interest of suppliers to provide Westminster City Council with a face-to-face payment service which enables its residents to be able to pay for any Council bill in the most convenient locations on days and times that best suit them.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
2 September 2024
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
The Authority currently has a contract for face-to-face payment services with the Post Office Ltd. which expires on 30th April 2025 and is looking to explore options for the future provision of this service.
The main objective of this engagement exercise will be to initiate discussion with the market to generate ideas on how to achieve the following:
ensuring the daily electronic submission of payment transfer funds to relevant bank accounts as specified by the Authority. Ensuring that at all times the total sums received through any automatic posting are in balance with the sums credited to the Authority on the same day
providing daily electronic submission of confirmation of sales
through a Change Control request process, modify computer systems as far as is practicable so as to automatically provide information for the Authority to update any of the Authority’s IT systems via an interface
when data is supplied by a transfer, all other documents such as a cash reconciliation should be returned at the same time so that the information supplied is reconcilable
on request, supply the Authority with information to enable the Authority to post cash to debtor records on any of its computer systems via automatic data transfer (i.e. across a secure FTP application) or by the physical transfer of data capture media
sending the data in a file format and specification as agreed with the Authority and any changes to the format would need to be managed through a Change Control process.
The Council wishes to consult with organisations with relevant experience of the delivery of similar services. The purpose of this consultation is to seek the early views of the market on potential delivery models available to the Council that best align with the objectives set out in the Fairer Westminster Strategy.
The Council will offer slots for in person and virtual meetings (via MS Teams) to organisations wishing to engage in further discussions. The individual meetings with interested suppliers will take place on the 3rd and 4th of June. Please respond by the 23rd May should you wish to take part by emailing asjames@westminster.gov.uk