SYMPHONY HOUSING GROUP LIMITED. Invitation to Tender: Electronic Tender and Contracts Register Systems. Tender Reference: 2013/043/ETCR/SE

Transcription

1 SYMPHONY HOUSING GROUP LIMITED : Electronic Tender and Contracts Register Systems Tender Reference: 2013/043/ETCR/SE The process is being managed and administered by: The Group Procurement Manager Symphony Housing Group Quay Plaza 2 1 st Floor - Lowry Mall Salford Quays Salford M50 3AH Document prepared by: Steve Everitt 1 P a g e

2 CONTENTS: Page No. A. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND 3 B. GUIDANCE ON THE PRE QUALIFICATION PROCESS 5 1 Introduction 5 2 Purpose of the Document 5 3 Confidentiality 5 4 Modification by the Group 5 5 ITT Information 5 6 Enquiries regarding the ITT 5 7 Completion and Submission of the ITT 6 8 Treatment of Tenders 7 9 Notification of Outcome 8 10 Award of Contract 8 11 Timetable 8 C. GENERAL INFORMATION 8 D. TENDER RESPONSE 9 E. FORM OF TENDER 12 Appendix A System Requirements Brief 2 P a g e

3 A. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND Introduction Symphony Housing Group ( the Group ) is seeking to appoint a provider(s) of an Electronic Tender system and a Contracts Register system to provide a joined up solution across the Group for the procurement and management of contracts, in line with the System Requirements Brief at Appendix A. Although the Group reserves the right to purchase these systems separately, the electronic tender system must have the capability to produce an output file for transferring tender data to the contracts register. The closing date for submission of proposals is 5pm Friday 15 th March Background Symphony Housing Group was formed in April 2011 through the amalgamation of Vicinity Housing Group and Contour Housing Group. The new Group, as one of the largest housing and regeneration organisations operating in the North West of England, is a significant player in the region. Operating as a federated partnership it has 10 member organisations providing services to 39,745 homes. The Symphony Group includes a number of subsidiaries and a structure chart and company background is shown below. 1. Information about the Symphony Housing Group Details of the Group s Members and legal status is shown below; 3 P a g e

4 Name Legal Status No of homes owned/managed Purpose/area of activity Symphony Housing Group Registered Provider, No 4649 I&PS with non charitable rules Parent housing association based in Liverpool providing group services to its member organisations in 27 local authority areas FSA No:31216R Contour Homes Limited Registered Provider, No. L3261 I&PS with charitable rules Owns 12,528 homes. Just over 900 of these homes were transferred from Preston Council Provides affordable housing Contour Property Services Registered Provider, No SL3381 I&PS with non charitable rules FSA No:23975R Non asset owning Leasehold management of 4482privately owned properties Provides a vehicle for non charitable activities and has an equity stake in shared ownership properties. It also undertakes leasehold management Hyndburn Homes Limited Registered Provider No L4461 I&PS with charitable rules FSA No:30031R Owns 3,221 homes Provides affordable housing. Established in 2006 following the transfer of over 3,200 homes from Hyndburn Council in Lancashire Hyndburn Homes Repairs Company limited by guarantee, non charitable CO No Non asset owning Employs 30 staff to undertake the maintenance of Hyndburn Homes Properties. Peak Valley Housing Association Registered Provider,L4475 I&PS with Charitable rules FSA No:29311R Owns 1,346 homes Provides affordable housing. Established in 2006 for the transfer of 1750 Manchester City Council homes on the overspill estate in Hattersley near Tameside Liverpool Housing Trust Limited Atrium City Living Limited Registered Provider, No LH0250 I&PS with charitable rules No 17186R Company limited by shares Co No ,968 dwellings owned Provision affordable homes on Merseyside since Around three quarters of the homes are in Liverpool, but it also provides housing in Halton, Knowsley, St Helens, Wirral and Sefton and Warrington. Vehicle for non-charitable residential and commercial activities. Cobalt Housing Limited Registered Provider, No L4361 I&PS with charitable rules IP 29516R Owns 5,747homes Provides affordable housing. Established in 2003 following the stock transfer from Liverpool City Council. Beechwood and Ballantyne Community Housing Association Registered Provider, No L4438 I&PS with charitable rules 29845R Owns 831 homes Provides affordable housing. Established in 2005 following the stock transfer from Wirral Borough Council. Ribble Valley Homes Registered Provider, No.L4525 I&PS with charitable rules No 30415R Owns 1,242 homes Established in 2008 following the stock transfer from Ribble Valley Borough Council. It owns homes spread across Ribble Valley in a rural setting. 4 P a g e

5 B. GUIDANCE ON THE INVITATION TO TENDER PROCESS 1 Introduction Your tender is to be submitted in accordance with the requirements of this document. 2 Purpose of the Document The purpose of this document is to invite tenders from those applicants capable of providing the system requirements identified in the Brief. 3 Confidentiality All information supplied by either party in connection with this ITT shall be regarded as confidential by the recipient, except insofar as either party is required to divulge information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or other statutory or legal authority. 4 Modification by the Group 4.1 Any advice of a modification to the ITT by the Group will be issued at least seven days before the ITT return date and will be deemed to constitute part of the ITT. If necessary, the Group will defer the ITT return date in order to allow Tenderers to take account of the modification. 4.2 Except under exceptional circumstances no other extension of date and time by which the ITT must be submitted, will be granted. 5 ITT Information 5.1 The ITT has two main functions: For the Tenderer, it provides an opportunity to demonstrate how they can deliver the system requirements identified in the brief to the Group, for the price tendered. For the Group, it enables the tenders to be evaluated against the pre-selected criteria of Price and Quality, thereby demonstrating which Tenderers provide the Most Economically Advantageous Tenders. 5.2 Tenderers must respond to all of the Method Statements included at Section D Tender Response, providing brief details, where appropriate, to support the response. Failure to respond to a method statement will attract a 0 score in the evaluation. 5.3 Information provided in connection with this ITT is provided in good faith. However the Group accepts no responsibility for any loss or damage whatsoever that may occur arising from the use of such information. 6 Enquiries regarding the ITT 6.1 Enquiries regarding this ITT must be directed as follows: Steve Everitt Symphony Housing Group Quay Plaza 2 1 st Floor - Lowry Mall Salford M50 3AH Tel: stephen.everitt@symphonyhousing.org.uk 6.2 On no account is a Tenderer to contact or communicate with any other person involved in work concerning this ITT about any aspect of this process unless the Group redirects the enquiry or otherwise invites such contact. Failure to comply with this requirement could result in the Tenderer being disqualified from this procurement. 5 P a g e

6 Where appropriate, a query or request for clarification raised by a Tenderer, and the response provided by the Group, will be circulated to all Tenderers but the Group will aim to preserve the anonymity of the Tenderer raising the matter. 7 Completion and Submission of the ITT 7.1 Completion of the ITT: Where you are requested to provide a Method Statement please provide a written response to be no longer than the number of A4 sheets indicated with a font no smaller than 10pt clearly numbered as per the questions Where you are requested to provide Pricing Proposals, please provide clear concise pricing including any methodology Please provide electronic copies of all documents on a CD/electronic memory device Please parcel and securely seal all tender documents including CD/electronic memory device and return before the closing date to: Steve Everitt Symphony Housing Group Quay Plaza 2 1 st Floor - Lowry Mall Salford M50 3AH The return envelope should be clearly marked: Tender Documents for the attention of Steve Everitt Ref: 2013/043/ETCR/SE Closing Date: 5pm Friday 15th March Tenders received by facsimile or via an electronic mail ( ) system will not be considered. The tender parcel must not have a postal franking machine mark or other identifying features showing the name of the firm or a printed name or address. 7.2 Cost of Tender The Group will not be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by the Tenderer in connection with the preparation of their tender. 7.3 Independent Tender By submitting a Tender, the Tenderer warrants the following: It is a bona fide Tender No attempt has been made nor will be made by the Tenderer to induce any other Tenderer to submit, not to submit or to withdraw a Tender for the purpose of restricting competition. 7.4 Completion of Tender Tender submissions should comprise the following documents: Method Statements responding to Section D1 Pricing Proposals Responding to Section D2 A completed Section E: Form of Tender Tenderers are not required to submit any other material. 6 P a g e

7 Failure to comply with these requirements will mean that under no circumstances will the tender be opened. 8 Treatment of Tenders 8.1 The Group s Discretion The Group reserves the right not to award a contract on relevant grounds. 8.2 Tender not Returnable In order to ensure the availability of a full audit trail, no part of the Tender submitted will be returnable to the Tenderer. 8.3 Selection Criteria The successful contractor(s) will be chosen on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) to the Group in terms of: Price (40%) Prices submitted within the Pricing Schedule document Quality (60%) Responses to the Method Statements within the ITT (35%) Demonstration of system capability (20%) Interview (5%) 8.4 Evaluation of Tenders An evaluation team will evaluate all Tenders correctly submitted against the Selection Criteria above. 8.5 The information submitted in response to the Method Statement will be evaluated using the scoring principles below: Score Scoring Principles 0 Rejected Response is unacceptable or non-existent, or there is a failure to properly address the Method Statement. 1-4 Poor The response is deficient in certain areas and the response requires the reviewer to make assumptions. 5-6 Satisfactory The response is acceptable, but with some minor reservations. The response deals only with processes and little output evidence is provided. 7-8 Good The response fully meets expectations Outstanding The standard of response exceeds expectations. The response demonstrates clear and strong evidence of delivery in all areas. 8.6 Post Tender Clarification/Interview Those Tenders which achieve the highest scores on the evaluation criteria above (maximum of 3) will be invited to attend a 60 minute post tender clarification/interview meeting with the project steering group to clarify any areas of the tenderers proposal. 8.7 Demonstration Those tenderers invited to interview will be required to attend with their proposed project team and demonstrate the systems(s) capability. 7 P a g e

8 9 Notification of Outcome When the final decision on the selection of contractors has been taken, all Tenderers will be informed in writing whether or not they have been successful and a mandatory 10-day standstill period applied. 10 Award of Contract 10.1 Terms and Conditions Any contract arising from the tender will be subject to both organisations agreeing a set of Terms and Conditions and completion of the Groups Approved Supplier Form Debriefing Tenderers will be given the opportunity to be debriefed on their submission should they make a formal request in writing/ . 11 Timetable The Group plans to conduct the procurement process according to the following timetable. However Tenderers must note that the timetable is indicative only and is not binding on the Group. Date Activity 04 March 2013 Contract advertised ITT document available 15 March 2013 (5pm) Final date for submission of Tender s March 2013 Tender evaluation period 27/28 March 2013 Interview/Demonstration Meetings March 2013 April 2013 April 2013 May 2013 C. GENERAL INFORMATION 1 Right of the Group to Rescind Approval to award contract(s) Contract award System setup Service Commencement The Group shall be free at any time to rescind any arrangements entered into with any firm under these provisions if in the opinion of the Group such firm has not carried out its obligations hereunder in accordance with this document and any service level agreement. In the event that the Group does wish to rescind, then it shall usually give three months' written notice of such rescission to the firm and upon receipt of such notice the firm shall forthwith return to the Group all papers and instructions either belonging to or received from the Group. The Group reserves the right to rescind any services earlier or immediately in the event that it considers a breach of a firm's obligations warrant such action. 2 Prevention of Corruption and added value disclosure The Group shall be entitled to cancel the Contract and recover from any firm the amount of any loss resulting from such cancellation, if the firm shall have offered, or given, or agreed to give, to any person any gift or consideration of any kind as an inducement, or reward, for doing or forbearing to do or for having done or forborne to do any action in relation to 8 P a g e

9 obtaining or the execution of any services with the Group, or for showing or forbearing to show favour or disfavour to any person in relation to such services or any other services with the Group. 3 Non-Assignment Successful firms shall be prohibited from transferring, or assigning directly, or indirectly, to any person or persons, whatever, any portion of the services provided to the Group, without the written permission of the Group. D. TENDER RESPONSE Please provide detailed Method Statements in response to the following criteria. These will be used as part of the evaluation of the Quality criteria as per the scoring below. 1 Tender Proposals 1.1 Provide details of how your organisation would deliver the requirements detailed in the System Requirements Brief document - attached at Appendix A - to meet the requirements of the Group and its member organisations. No more than 4 sides of A4 (Scoring 20%) 1.2 Provide a detailed implementation plan, including team members, roles and responsibilities. No more than 2 sides of A4 (Scoring 5%) 1.3 Please provide a detailed explanation of the appropriate hosting arrangements for the systems, including secure data transfer (SFTP or HTTPS) and HTTPS connections. No more than 2 sides of A4 (Scoring 3%) 1.4 Please provide details of system training and support you will provide to Symphony Housing Group staff members as part of the implementation program. No more than 2 sides of A4 (Scoring 3%) 1.5 Please describe your proposals for the on-going support you can offer to the Group. No more than 1 side of A4 (Scoring 2%) 1.6 Describe what added value your organisation will bring to the contract. No more than 1 side of A4 (Scoring 2%) 2 Pricing Proposals Please provide detailed Price Proposals below covering the following elements. These will be used as part of the evaluation of the 40% Price criteria. System Install/Configuration includes the costs of supplying, installing and configuring the system to all 10 organisations. User Licence(s) the cost of any annual licence per member organisation (based on 3 users per member organisation (if applicable) Technical Support annual cost of providing technical support/advice to users System Maintenance annual cost of providing system maintenance System Hosting annual cost of hosting the system (if applicable) User Training cost of training 3 users per member organisation 9 P a g e

10 Pricing Proposal - A Etender system Item Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total System Install/Configuration User Licence(s) Technical Support System Maintenance System Hosting User Training Other (please detail below*) Totals * Alternative proposal (if applicable) Pricing Proposal - B Contracts Register system Item Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Total System Install/Configuration User Licence(s) Technical Support System Maintenance System Hosting User Training Other (please detail below*) Totals * 10 P a g e

11 3 Health and Safety (Pass/Fail) Tenderers must provide a copy of their Health and Safety Policy. 4 Financial (Pass/Fail) Tenderers financial status will be evaluated by way of a Dunn & Bradstreet Comprehensive Report. Please provide the full name, address and registration number of the company the search is to be completed on. Bidders must have a maximum risk rating of 3 to pass this section, or provide a suitable explanation of their rating. 5 Insurance (Pass/Fail) You should supply the Group at this stage with evidence of your Professional Negligence Insurance Policy to cover liability for work undertaken for the Group and your Public Liability Insurance. You will be required to have Public Liability Insurance cover of 10m and Professional Indemnity Insurance cover of a minimum of 2m. 6 References (Pass/Fail) Tenders should include 2 recent references from existing customers where you have delivered a similar system/service. 7 Monitoring and Quality Assurance (Pass/Fail) The Group would like to receive confirmation from you as to any quality standards for which your company is registered (e.g. recognised awards for quality such as ISO 9001 or Investors in People) and provide evidence of registration. 8 Equality and Diversity (Pass/Fail) Symphony Housing Group believes strongly in Equality and Diversity with equal opportunity access for all to be paramount factors in supplying services to our customers and in employing our staff in particular. Please provide a copy of your Equality and Diversity Policy 11 P a g e

12 E - Form of Tender Acceptance To whom it may concern, I/We hereby contract and agree, upon acceptance of this tender, either wholly or in part, by the Symphony Housing Group Limited ("the Group"), to supply and deliver to the Group, all or any of the items or services at the prices tendered on the attached schedule. This shall be compliant with the specification and special terms herein in accordance with and subject to the Group's Standing Orders. Dated this... day of Signed Name Position in organisation Duly authorised to sign tenders for and behalf of [Name] Registered Address Company number Phone No: Witness of above signature Signed Name 12 P a g e

13 Appendix A System Requirements Brief Symphony Housing Group has identified the need for an e-tender system and a contracts register system for use across the organisation. The systems are required to support the Group and its members in the procurement and management of contracts for the delivery of works, goods and services. Basic requirements of the systems are as follows: E-tender: A secure e-tender system, giving free access to external suppliers via a simple registration process to tender and quotation opportunities with individual member organisations and the wider Group. The registration process should require the input of contact details, address, and business registration number (if applicable) to generate a password protected access for potential suppliers. The system should provide a Symphony Front page which is accessed via a link from group members individual internet pages ie Symphony, Cobalt, LHT, Contour Homes etc The following criteria have been designated as either essential or desirable No System Requirement Criteria 1 The system should display the quotation/tender/contract opportunities available across the Group, searchable by individual member organisations. 2 Suppliers must be able to access further information and tender/itq documents for each of the opportunities advertised. 3 The system should provide an intuitive/easy to use e- tender download/upload fully auditable system 13 P a g e

14 4 The system should be OJEU compliant/compatible Desirable 5 The tender system should provide reporting functions and enable outcome/results extraction. 6 The system should have a hierarchical management system, allowing internal user s access to their own tenders, the ability to view other members tenders and a senior group wide overview facility. 7 Users should be able to select from a standard suite of templates to develop their etender process ie Invitation to Quote (ITQ), Pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ), (ITT), Health and Safety (H&S) Equality and Diversity (E&D) and Terms and Conditions (T&C s). 8 The system should have the facility for the user to build non-standard PQQ/ITT s for specific projects. Desirable 9 The system should allow scoring criteria to be specified on each tender including, price, quality, interviews, panel scores, weightings. Desirable 10 To enable Group wide working, tender submissions/returns must be accessible to nominated users for joint review/evaluation, including online evaluation facility of ITQ, PQQ & ITT submissions. Desirable 11 The system should have the facility/capacity to be extended to include an eauction module. Desirable Contracts Register A secure Contracts Register system allowing access to individual member organisations and the wider Group to view. The system should provide a Symphony Front page which is accessed via a link from the Groups members individual intranet pages. The following criteria have been designated as either essential or desirable No System Requirement Criteria 1 A secure Contracts Register / Repository system that is 14 P a g e

15 accessible across the Group via login and password. 2 The system must be able to provide an audit trail on data input and updates, with report functionality built in. 3 The system should have a hierarchical management system, allowing internal users access to their own contracts, the ability to view other members contracts and a senior group wide overview facility. 4 The register should have the facility to be populated directly from the selected etender system by direct file transfer as well as manual input capability. Desirable 5 The details to be recorded on the Register must include, but is not limited to, details on: Product/Service Category Contract Manager/approver details Start and end dates, extension dates Contract document location Supplier details, co registration number, address, Credit Rating input with 3 month checks (value/risk based) Award process and OJEU ref Contract Value ( ) at award, previous year and actual update year 1, 2 etc (if applicable) Spend analysis input option for data Approval route 6 The system should have the capability to provide preselected reminders for key dates such as contract management reviews, renewal/extension periods, price increases, KPI, Insurance renewals etc. 7 The system should be capable of producing exportable reports on stored data by; category; cost; supplier; procurement route; end dates; member organisation; reprocurement dates etc. 8 The system should be able to import historical data from a range of sources including excel, PDF, and Access files. Desirable ******end****** 15 P a g e