Future Farming and Countryside Digital Cultural Transformation

Description

Summary of the work The FFCP is looking for a supplier to support the programme in transforming the cultural ways of working to become an agile, user-centred organisation that achieves its intended policy outcomes, describe the gap and programme of work required to address the gap and achieve the required level of maturity. Expected Contract Length FFCP expects the requirement to be delivered for up to 24 months Latest start date Friday 3 September 2021 Budget Range A pipeline of activity is foreseen over the next 24 months, with an indicative total budget against the requirements for this opportunity being £1.5m, but that scope could expand or contract. DEFRA does not commit to any minimum or maximum spend at this point. Why the Work is Being Done DEFRA is transforming the way it supports and regulates farming and the countryside in England. The move will see DEFRA start to pay farmers to produce public goods on their land like air quality, water quality, biodiversity and carbon reduction. Our purpose is to make the agriculture sector (70% of land in England) more resilient, profitable and environmentally sustainable. To build services that work and achieve the much-needed outcomes, the Future Farming and Countryside Programme (FFCP) needs to deliver in a confident, joined up agile and user-centred way, changing the ways of working to be organised around the products and services we need to deliver. To have teams in place which deliver outcomes, embed the changes to the ways of working, introduce and develop the skills required, the existing teams must be brought along the journey, respecting their different experiences and expertise and encouraging and enabling them to get involved. Problem to Be Solved Traditional ways of working have not previously brought together Policy, Operations and Delivery to work collaboratively, this has caused a negative impact on the ability to deliver the cohesive products and services required to transform the agriculture sector. There are a number of projects/teams across DEFRA who are leading on delivery of work which incorporates continuous improvement. There is limited experience and understanding across the programme of agile user centred delivery and how to apply these processes within the newly formed teams who are unclear of the role expectations and responsibilities. The structures which are in place do not enable a culture of delivery through multi-disciplinary teams, or embrace an agile, user-centred environment or working within a structure of multi-disciplinary teams. Clear direction and communication is required from the leadership team to instil confidence in those who are in internal teams along with key stakeholders/ collaborators across the programme. Who Are the Users As a Senior Leader in the FFCP I need to communicate and champion the move to delivering in a user-centred, agile way so that my teams have confidence in the new ways of working As an individual who works in a Product Team, I need to understand the benefits of delivering user-centred products and services so that the messaging across the programme is consistent. As an individual in the FFCP, I need to learn and develop my skills in agile delivery so that I can contribute to delivering quality products and services. As a Line Manager in the FCCP I need to have clarity on how to manage individuals in my structure so that they can deliver and develop As a team who supports the FFCP to deliver their outcomes I need to understand the possible impact of delivering in an agile environment so that I don’t become a blocker to delivery Existing Team There are approx. 450 people across the FFCP, 190 of whom are at Grade 7 to SCS. There are varying levels of understanding and experience of delivering user-centred agile products and services. Current Phase Not applicable Skills & Experience • Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of agile methodology and its application throughout the delivery process • Demonstrate experience of working with an organisation at the beginning of an agile culture change • Demonstrate experience in building and coaching world-class digital service teams • Advocate for the importance of agile, iterative and user-focused delivery, as set out in the Government Service Manual • Provide evidence and experience of establishing a culture of service and continuous improvement at all levels of an organisation • Provide evidence of recommending changes to new and existing digital services • Provide evidence of embedding clarity, understanding and confidence to work and lead in a different way • Demonstrate the ability to impact the wider organisation and adapt governance processes to support the move to agile delivery Nice to Haves • Demonstrate awareness of GDS service assessments • Demonstrate experience of working successfully with UK Government and/or Arm's Length Bodies • Demonstrate sector knowledge of DEFRA business requirements and issues Work Location Current restrictions to DEFRA offices will require this work to take place remotely until restrictions are lifted. DEFRA operates from multiple offices, key locations include Crewe, London, Warrington, Reading, Bristol, York, Newcastle. Working Arrangments The supplier staff are able to deliver remotely. Delivery must take place during DEFRA core working hours in order to maximise knowledge transfer and integrate with teams' development: Monday to Friday starting by 9.30am, 7.5 hours per day + lunch time. There is no requirement for the people working on this outcome to participate in extended hours. Expenses will be capped at £5,000 for the duration of the contract and all travel and subsistence will require prior approval and must be in line with DEFRA T&S policy and procedure. Security Clearance All supplier staff must have BPSS as a minimum. Additional T&Cs Any expenses must be pre-agreed between the parties and must comply with DEFRA Travel and Subsistence (T&S) Policy. Suppliers are obliged to provide sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures so that the processing meets the requirements of GDPR and ensures the protection of the rights of data subjects. For further information please see the Information Commissioner's Office website https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/data-protection-reform/overview-of-the-gdpr/ No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 3 Proposal Criteria • Evidence of insight, structure, guidance and support to transforming digital delivery programmes • Evidence of working with teams to understand their work, their operating context and constraints and identify & implement adaptations/improvements • Demonstrate scalability, flexibility, deployment, skills and strengths of accessible capabilities • Demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively across organisational, technical and political boundaries, understanding the context • Experience in providing insights to contribute to a collective vision and to align and increase the capability in a government department • Experience of providing services to lead, coach and upskill in agile methods and techniques in order to build internal capability Cultural Fit Criteria • Understand how to reinforce a strong Agile based culture as part of a multidisciplinary service team • Collaborate with multiple organisational stakeholders with the aim to achieve a single objective. • Be able to explain technical things to non-technical people, and non-technical things to technical people • Transfer knowledge to permanent staff within client organisation • Have a positive approach to diversity and inclusion and your ability to manage the wellbeing of your team Payment Approach Capped time and materials Assessment Method • Case study • Work history • Reference • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 50% Cultural fit 20% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Is there an incumbent supplier for this outcome? Is so who is it? There is no incumbent supplier delivering this work 2. Is there an incumbent supplier? There is no incumbent supplier delivering this work 3. Could you please let us know if you are currently working with a supplier to provide the services that are the subject of this PQQ? There is no incumbent supplier delivering this work 4. Is global experience a requirement of the supplier to ensure consideration of all possible insights and best practices across farming and countryside transformation initiatives. We are looking for a supplier who has experience successfully building and coaching service teams and has the ability to utilise the varying range of insights and best practices implemented with global organisations. 5. What is the current structure of teams supporting on delivery within the FFCP? Will this be shared with shortlisted suppliers? Teams are at different phases of the digital lifecycle. A detailed picture of team structures will be shared with the successful supplier. 6. Has there been any work done towards this transformation already? There have been some introductory agile awareness sessions delivered across the programme to provide a base level of digital understanding 7. With regards to Question 3, please could you clarify what you mean by ‘coaching world-class digital service teams’? We are looking for a supplier who has experience successfully coaching service teams and has the ability to utilise the varying range of insights and best practices implemented with global organisations. 8. With regards to Question 5, please could you clarify what you mean by a ‘culture of service ‘? We would like suppliers to provide us with examples of where they have established the culture within an organisation to one of service rather than functional silos or in a traditional policymaking way. More of a joined up, user-centred and confident way of being organised around the products and services to be delivered so that they are delivered in an agile and user-centred way. 9. with regards to Q11, ‘Demonstrate sector knowledge of DEFRA business requirements and issues’, is experience with other government departments/organisations with similar requirements and issues to DEFRA’s sufficient to meet the criterion? Experience with another government department or organisation with similar requirements or issues to Defra would be accepted as evidence for this Nice to Have criterion 10. How will you assess the price element of a bid? Based on a weighted average of a rate card? Based on a sample scenario to be costed by each bidder or based on other means? Costs will be requested as part of the proposal, second stage evaluation. We would ask suppliers to provide quotes based on a blended team rate. The commercial proposal for shortlisted suppliers will be evaluated based on how close each supplier's quote is to the cheapest shortlisted supplier. 11. Will you expect presentations from suppliers as part of the second round and if so, do you have an expected timeline for these. A lot of our team will be on holiday in August so we’d like to plan ahead. Will these be done remotely? Suppliers who progress to the second stage will be required to submit a proposal and give a presentation. Suppliers will be given a minimum of 5 working days to submit their proposal, with an additional 2 days to prepare their presentation. Please see the indicative timeline below;Supplier evaluation timelineApplication submissions 13/07/21Notify successful suppliers 23/07/21Proposal submissions 30/07/21 Presentations and QA 04 & 05/08/21 12. If there is a presentation element to the second round do you know which roles will be represented on the panel? Suppliers who progress to the second stage will be required to submit a proposal and give a presentation, against the criteria set out on the advert. Details will be shared when suppliers are notified. The panel will be comprised of Deputy Directors from across the programme. 13. If there is a presentation element to the second round do you know which roles will be represented on the panel? Suppliers who progress to the second stage will be required to submit a proposal and give a presentation, against the criteria set out on the advert. Details will be shared when suppliers are notified. The panel will be comprised of Deputy Directors from across the programme. 14. Will DEFRA provide an internal change team or allocate resources for a successful supplier to work with? The successful supplier will have access to specialists who work within the programmes Service Team. Dedicated resource will not be provided to the successful supplier to deliver this work 15. Is the outcome an agile organisation or agile delivery? The outcome is that the programme changes the ways of working to work in a joined up, user-centred and confident way to be organised around the products and services to be delivered so that they are delivered in an agile and user-centred way. 16. What experience does the programme/DEFRA have in Agile culture/delivery? There are varying levels of agile culture and delivery experience across Defra. The programme has very limited experience and is at the start of it's digital transformation journey. 17. Should we be successful in the initial round, when would you be expecting the full proposal to be submitted? Suppliers who progress to the second stage will be required to submit a proposal and give a presentation, against the criteria set out on the advert. Details will be shared when suppliers are notified. We will not expect a proposal of how the work will be delivered at evaluation stage 18. What are the roles expected from suppliers? We would expect suppliers to propose the overall level of resourcing (including roles, skills and capabilities) required to deliver this work 19. What is the procurement timeline including ITT, presentations, Outcome? Supplier evaluation timelineApplication submissions - 13/07/21Notify successful suppliers - 23/07/21Proposal submissions - 30/07/21 Presentations and QA - 04 & 05/08/21Contract awarded - 03/09/21 20. Is there an incumbent for this opportunity, if so, please could you disclose their name? There is no incumbent supplier delivering this work 21. Can you confirm if this is a contract for agile advice and coaching only? If so, which other suppliers will we be expected to work alongside to carry out the delivery and implementation? This procurement is to engage a supplier who will be able to define, deliver, implement and embed the changes needed. 22. Does the scope of the engagement include all phases from discovery through to live? This procurement is to engage a supplier who will be able to define, deliver, implement and embed the changes needed. So would be the full lifecycle. 23. For “Provide evidence of recommending changes to new and existing digital services” are you thinking about any particular types of change e.g. changes to scope, plans, budget, team shape, or how the work is being done? We would expect suppliers to provide examples of recommended changes that would align to the sections on the advert which gives information on why the work is being done and the problem to be solved. 24. For “Provide evidence of embedding clarity, understanding and confidence to work and lead in a different way” are you thinking about instilling confidence only in leaders or in others as well? Are you interested in examples where we have done this just with individuals or with groups as well? We would be looking for examples where suppliers have instilled confidence across a whole organisation including the leadership cadre, on a one to one basis and in a group setting 25. When you say “describe the gap and programme of work required to address the gap and achieve the required level of maturity” – is this something you wish the winning supplier to do once they begin the engagement? We would expect the winning supplier to provide us with an assessment of the elements which are missing and what would need to be embedded to ensure a smooth transformation 26. Who from your team will be scoring applications for this opportunity and what positions do they hold at Defra? The evaluation panel comprises of five deputy directors in FFCP 27. Are you working with any existing suppliers in relation to this tender opportunity? If you are, who are they? There is no incumbent supplier delivering this work 28. What are the resource requirements in terms of approximate FTE and project duration? i.e. large team short-term vs smaller team embedded long-term vs other. We would expect suppliers to propose the overall level of resourcing (including roles, skills and capabilities) required to deliver this work 29. What roles are you expecting suppliers to provide? In addition, are you expecting all roles to have the ability to be full time? We would expect suppliers to propose the overall level of resourcing (including roles, skills and capabilities) required to deliver this work 30. In order to compare suppliers like for like, how will price be evaluated? Costs will be requested as part of the proposal, second stage evaluation. We would ask suppliers to provide quotes based on a blended team rate. The commercial proposal for shortlisted suppliers will be evaluated based on how close each supplier's quote is to the cheapest shortlisted supplier. 31. Has any other supplier been engaged with this project so far? There is no incumbent supplier delivering this work 32. What roles are you expecting to provide and will these all be full time? We would expect suppliers to propose the overall level of resourcing (including roles, skills and capabilities) required to deliver this work 33. Are you able to continue straight into the next phase of this project with the same supplier with no air gap between phases? This procurement is to engage a supplier who will be able to define, deliver, implement and embed the changes needed as a single, continuous programme of work 34. As there is a duration and budget specified, can we assume work has been limited and prioritised? The budget and duration proposed are maxima and reflect the buyer's working assumption of the scale, nature and scope of the programme of work required to deliver the cultural transformation work required for the programme 35. Will you be able to organise access to stakeholders throughout the project? The successful supplier will have access to specialists or stakeholders who work within the programmes Service Team as required. Dedicated resource will not be provided to the successful supplier to deliver this work 36. Are you looking for an organisation with GDS assessment experience? And are you lookiong for this experience from the organisation or just certain individuals proposed in the supplier team? We would like a supplier to be able to demonstrate awareness of GDS service assessments as part of the Nice-to-Have criteria. The ask is for the supplier to be aware and as such doesn't require experience in carrying out a GDS service assessment. We are happy to receive applications from suppliers who have awareness as an organisation or from individuals within the supplier team. 37. For the first evaluation round (evidence), what would you expect to see from an answer for it to be deemed ‘exceeding’ and score 3 marks? Each member of the evaluation team will assign a score to each evaluation criteria based on the evidence provided in the submission, then an overall score will be agreed through discussion between the evaluators. We encourage suppliers to provide the strongest examples they have to evidence against each criteria. 38. As per DOS guidelines ‘You should only provide one example for each essential or nice-to-have requirement’, are you only requesting one example per skills and experience question? This is correct, suppliers only need to provide one example against each requirement in the skills and experience, 'Essential' and 'Nice to Have' section 39. How would you like suppliers to present expenses (separate rechargeable or included in day rates based on assumption for travel)? Expenses will be capped at £5,000 for the duration of the contract and all travel and subsistence will require prior approval and must be in line with DEFRA T&S policy and procedure. We will request costs as part of the second stage of evaluation 40. What sector would DEFRA categorise themselves in and therefore want a supplier to demonstrate experience in? Defra is the government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities 41. How will the nice-to-have responses be used in the scoring? Nice-to-have skills and experience will assessed using the 0 (Not met or no evidence); 1 (Partially Met); 2 (Met) or 3 (Exceed) scoring criteria based on the evidence provided by potential suppliers. 42. How much access will the winning team have to people across all areas and teams at DEFRA? The successful supplier will have access to specialists and stakeholders who work within the programmes Service Team as required. Dedicated resource will not be provided to the successful supplier to deliver this work 43. Do you have an idea of the desired make up of team needed to deliver this work, i.e. what skills / roles? We would expect suppliers to propose the overall level of resourcing (including roles, skills and capabilities) required to deliver this work 44. From direct experience, we know there are already many individuals and teams within DEFRA with strong agile and digital capabilities. Are you looking for new ways to drive cultural / agile change? Or ways to make the most of your existing resources? The structures which are in place do not enable a culture of delivery through multi-disciplinary teams, or embrace an agile, user-centred environment or working within a structure of multi-disciplinary teams. This work will look to transform the cultural ways of working across the programme in order to deliver in an agile, user-centred environment. 45. Who from Defra will be reviewing and assessing the bids, i.e. what positions do they hold in the organisation? The evaluation panel comprises of five deputy directors in FFCP 46. You specify reaching a ‘required level of maturity’ in the brief. What do you mean by ‘required level’? Required by what/whom? Is this about passing service assessments, or something else? We are looking for a supplier who can transition the programme to the required level of agile delivery maturity through cultural transformation, to enable the programme to deliver against the policy outcomes. 47. Can you please tell us who the incumbent is? There is no incumbent supplier delivering this work 48. Will the scores from the evidencing round be taken through to final evaluation? Or will they only be used for the purposes of shortlisting suppliers? Scores from the initial application will be weighted at 10% for the final evaluation of shortlisted suppliers. 49. How many people is this change expected to include or impact? There are approx. 450 people working on the Future Farming and Countryside Programme who need to be included as direct beneficiaries of this change programme.