Scope
Reference
CST273
Description
Derbyshire County Council is seeking to enter into a strategic partnership with an external organisation to undertake the Design and Implementation of the Council's Operating Model Transformation Programme, to deliver a more efficient and effective Operating Model for the Council.
Building on this diagnostic work, the Council has developed an Operating Model Transformation Programme, focussed on five strategic areas:
• One Council - Creating a cohesive and efficient support function across the organisation.
• Organisation Design - Restructuring to align with service purpose and improve spans and layers.
• Customer Experience - Simplifying and digitising high-volume processes to ensure consistency, improve experience and efficiency.
• Children's Services - Developing a strategic commissioning approach and implementing automation to reduce costs and reliance on agency staff.
• Third-Party Spend and Procurement - Reducing external spend through robust analysis and targeted savings initiatives.
Ensuring all workstreams align to a single, coherent Target Operating Model (TOM) framework to prevent siloed designs and ensure integration across the Council.
The Council is estimating that the programme is expected to deliver financial benefits of approximately £42.7 million, excluding savings already being realised through existing projects. However, the scale and complexity of change exceed the Council's internal delivery capability and capacity. To ensure successful implementation, the Council intends to procure a Design and Implementation Partner to Design an implementation-ready package and then move to full Implementation at pace and scale.
The Provider will be expected to work collaboratively with internal teams, transferring knowledge and building capability throughout the lifecycle, with clearly defined deliverables for knowledge transfer.
This transformation is critical to position the Council for future challenges, including Local Government Reorganisation scheduled for April 2028, and to improve resident satisfaction, which currently falls below national benchmarks for value for money and overall performance. The Provider must incorporate Local Government Reorganisation dependencies, assumptions, and design considerations into all deliverables.
Total value (estimated)
- £5,000,000 excluding VAT
- £6,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 April 2026 to 1 April 2028
- 2 years, 1 day
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 79400000 - Business and management consultancy and related services
Contract locations
- UKF1 - Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire
Participation
Legal and financial capacity conditions of participation
Insurance Levels:
a. Employer's (Compulsory) Liability Insurance £5 Million
b. Public Liability Insurance £5 Million
c. Professional Indemnity Insurance £5 Million
d. Cyber Liability Insurance £2 Million
Technical ability conditions of participation
Information Security Standards
Organisational Technical Capability and Relevant Experience
Benefits Realisation
Data, Analytics & Interoperability
Process mining, automation & tooling readiness
Programme Governance, Assurance & Knowledge Transfer
Expert Skills and Continuous Knowledge
Capacity and Resourcing
Particular suitability
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
Submission
Submission type
Requests to participate
Deadline for requests to participate
19 January 2026, 3:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Suppliers to be invited to tender
Maximum 5 suppliers
Selection criteria:
Stage 2 - a maximum number of 5 suppliers will be invited. These will be the 5 highest scoring suppliers from Stage 1.
Award decision date (estimated)
23 March 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Quality Response | Quality | 60% |
| Price Schedule | Cost | 40% |
Other information
Description of risks to contract performance
Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) dependencies (to April 2028): Adjustments to scope/sequence where TOM designs or implementation plans must realign to LGR milestones, structures or governance.
Technology dependencies and approvals: Outputs that require Digital/PMO gating, integration with existing platforms (e.g., M365/SharePoint, SAP), or additional security/architectural assurance may necessitate rescheduling and/or alternative delivery options.
Legislative and policy changes impacting procurement/commercial practice or service delivery (e.g., Procurement Act 2023 operationalisation, updates to data protection expectations/guidance).
Budget profiling/MTFS movements: Reprofiling of benefits, milestones or deliverables to keep savings delivery aligned to the MTFS and financial years.
Information governance refinements: Updates to data sharing, retention, and security controls that alter processing instructions, locations, or tools.
Supplyside constraints: Confirmed changes in resource availability (Council or Provider) that materially impact the critical path.
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
This procurement will be a multi stage process.
Stage 1 will require suppliers to submit a Conditions of Participation document containing pass/fail and scored quality questions.
Suppliers will be down selected after Stage 1 based on their quality score. The top 5 scoring suppliers will be selected to take part in Stage 2.
Stage 2 requires the 5 suppliers to complete a full tender response including pricing.
The Council reserves the right to include a Stage 3 Dialogue with best and final offer submitted with all 5 suppliers.
The Council also reserves the right to hold a Stage 4 presentation with the overall successful supplier.
The Council reserves the right if Stage 3 is not required to move directly to Stage 4.
Documents
Associated tender documents
https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=bbc8a7b9-07dc-f011-813c-005056b64545
Contracting authority
Derbyshire County Council
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PWZQ-2162-JJQL
County Hall
Matlock
DE4 3AG
United Kingdom
Region: UKF13 - South and West Derbyshire
Organisation type: Public authority - sub-central government