Scope
Reference
011-PA-25
Description
Breckland Council (the "Council") is inviting
quotations for the supply of digital support for the Local Plan.
This will be divided into 3 lots:
Lot 1. A community engagement platform.
Lot 2. A digital consultation reviewer with summary
capabilities
Lot 3. A back of house platform for Local Plan
writing and editing
The Council is currently using an online community
engagement platform to assist in reaching its
diverse community across our geographically large
district comprising 5 market towns and over 100
rural parishes. The aim is to keep this method of
consultation available to increase community
engagement in the Local Plan process and reach a
greater number of people from all parts of the
district and across all socio-economic groups and
give them the opportunity to interact and share
views, facilitate feedback, analyse this feedback
and collaborate on future ideas.
As part of the Local Plan process, numerous
responses are received from the public
consultations. We are looking at digital options to
reduce the time taken to sort, read and summarise
these responses.
Lot 1. A community engagement platform
Description
The platform should enable community engagement in an accessible format to reach a wide audience. The platform should be user friendly with a legible, intuitive set up, allowing as many persons as possible to find the information that they are looking for and allowing them to easily give their opinions. The platform should also allow people to be kept up to date and have a record of their responses, with the ability to respond again and track changes to the key documents.It is expected that the platform will demonstrate that it has reached a wider audience than the standard consultation method of a Council website, and the benefits should be clearly listed. The Platform should be accessible on a wide range of devices, and this should be demonstrable to further ensure accessibility.
Lot 2. A digital consultation reviewer with summary capabilities
Description
The consultation reviewer should use AI technology to sort, summarise and analyse trends of consultation responses to the local plan consultation. The platform should be able to summarise them, highlighting that AI has been used for anyone reviewing the summary. Key words will be identified to group consultation responses into categories and subcategories, enabling the reader to see that they are site specific where applicable.This system will reduce the time taken to track and review consultation responses and will allow for results to be seen through a search as well as in full. Responses can be catalogued and placed in relevant areas for reference when the policies are being reviewed against the responses. While we would still utilise a human / humans to review all responses, the time reduction will come from sorting and summarising them and applying them to relevant parts and themes of the policy document.
Contract 1. Lot 1. A community engagement platform
Lots
Lot 1. A community engagement platform
Supplier
Contract value
- £9,980.50 including VAT
Below the relevant threshold
Award decision date
7 October 2025
Earliest date the contract will be signed
17 October 2025
Contract dates (estimated)
- 20 October 2025 to 19 April 2027
- Possible extension to 19 October 2027
- 2 years
Description of possible extension:
There is a potential to extend for a further period of six (6) months.
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 48100000 - Industry specific software package
- 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
Contract locations
- UKH17 - Breckland and South Norfolk
Contract 2. Lot 2. A digital consultation reviewer with summary capabilities
Lots
Lot 2. A digital consultation reviewer with summary capabilities
Supplier
Contract value
- £9,980.50 including VAT
Below the relevant threshold
Award decision date
7 October 2025
Earliest date the contract will be signed
17 October 2025
Contract dates (estimated)
- 20 October 2025 to 19 April 2027
- Possible extension to 19 October 2027
- 2 years
Description of possible extension:
There is a potential to extend for a further period of
six (6) months.
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 48100000 - Industry specific software package
- 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
Contract locations
- UKH17 - Breckland and South Norfolk
Information about tenders
Lot 1. A community engagement platform
- 6 tenders received
- 6 tenders assessed in the final stage:
- 6 submitted by small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- 0 submitted by voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
- 1 supplier awarded contracts
- 5 suppliers unsuccessful (details included for contracts over £5 million)
Lot 2. A digital consultation reviewer with summary capabilities
- 6 tenders received
- 6 tenders assessed in the final stage:
- 6 submitted by small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- 0 submitted by voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
- 1 supplier awarded contracts
- 5 suppliers unsuccessful (details included for contracts over £5 million)
Lots that will not be awarded
Lot 3. A back of house platform for Local Plan writing and editing
Description
The system will provide a back of house function to write, edit, publish and track changes to the Local Plan. The writer will ideally work collaboratively with other elements to engage the responses to the Plan
CPV classifications
- 48100000 - Industry specific software package
- 72200000 - Software programming and consultancy services
Date of decision not to award
7 October 2025
Procedure
Procedure type
Below threshold - open competition
Supplier
Go Vocal
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PQJM-8424-DPZP
34 Boulevard Pacheco
Brussels
1000
Belgium
Email: hello@govocal.com
Website: https://www.govocal.com/en-uk
Small or medium-sized enterprise (SME): Yes
Voluntary, community or social enterprise (VCSE): No
Contract 1. Lot 1. A community engagement platform
Contract 2. Lot 2. A digital consultation reviewer with summary capabilities
Contracting authority
Breckland District Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PBBD-9961-PPPD
Elizabeth House, Walpole Loke
Dereham
NR19 1EE
United Kingdom
Email: procurement@breckland.gov.uk
Region: UKH17 - Breckland and South Norfolk
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government