Overview
This project required the re-procurement of a large Case Management system – known within the service as ‘People Major Systems’ (PMS) – for Bristol City Council. (BCC). The existing system was split over multiple contracts with two suppliers and was therefore hard to manage in terms of end dates, renewals, and payments. Some items and services included in the contracts were no longer required by BCC, whilst other contracted services were not being delivered. The Bristol Contract Managers reported that the incumbent suppliers were slow to respond to requests for technical support, and repair & maintenance costs were high.
The main aim of this project was to procure a new contract to replace the multiple case management contracts previously in place, with consideration of whether a direct award to the incumbent supplier, or a brand-new competitive tender, would be most appropriate, compliant with legislation, and produce best value for money.
The Challenge
The challenges for this project were:
- Replace or renew existing People Major Systems with a single contract, encompassing all elements of case management required by the Council, for both Adults and Children’s services.
- To enable more efficient contract management by incorporating multiple service contracts into one.
- To consider the implications of transferring to a new supplier/solution versus the risks of awarding to the incumbent supplier.
- Removing any element of the incumbent contract that was no longer required.
- Ensuring that contracted Terms and Conditions moving forward were more beneficial to the Council, and providing solutions to previous issues with maintenance costs and response times.
The Solution
V4 Services carried out extensive market research into the solutions available and their usage by other local authorities and learnt that the majority of this market was controlled by three suppliers, the largest of which was Bristol’s incumbent supplier.
We explored Crown Commercial Services Framework RM3821 - Data and Application Solutions for a competitive route to market, conducting additional research with the four suppliers who featured on both Lot 3c - Community Health & Social Care and Lot 5b - Academic Scheduling & Management Solutions.
Bristol City Council conducted additional research into the costs and timeframe associated with moving to a new supplier.
It was discovered that only one supplier – the incumbent - could deliver so we therefore shifted our focus to getting the best value for money, and better terms regarding repair times
The Outcomes
The new contract is a direct award call-off under CCS Framework RM3281 – Data and Application Solutions and is more beneficial to the customer than previous contracts, let under the supplier’s terms & conditions. By discussing the new requirements for the Council (additional finance system, external hosting), V4 Services were able to secure minimal increases on annual costs - lower than the rates offered to other Councils through the standard eMarketplace catalogue. While savings were achieved on the basic PMS package costs, additional services (not previously provided by the supplier) were included in the new contract which shifted the cloud hosting requirements across to the supplier, creating efficiencies of resources within the Council.
Any cashable savings realised going forward will be reinvested into further developing the system with the introduction of the supplier’s finance system across all remaining areas of the system.
Additional efficiencies in the processes, staff resources, and time requirements to manage the system are also expected as a result of this re-procurement.
Additional post-project expectations: Better working relationship with the supplier with clear timeframes and costings, Contract Manager taken on by BCC to manage supplier relationship and ensure KPIs are met, particularly with timely change requests or dealing with reported errors.
To find out how V4 Services can help you with your next project, please get in touch.
