--- title: "WM Placement Portal Replacement - Soft Market Sounding Exercise" ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-0938178b-e135-4d87-964e-ff5fa2274277" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-0938178b-e135-4d87-964e-ff5fa2274277" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-0938178b-e135-4d87-964e-ff5fa2274277.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-0938178b-e135-4d87-964e-ff5fa2274277.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL" published: "2021-03-02" --- # WM Placement Portal Replacement - Soft Market Sounding Exercise Buyer: BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-b5fd17-0938178b-e135-4d87-964e-ff5fa2274277 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-0938178b-e135-4d87-964e-ff5fa2274277) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-0938178b-e135-4d87-964e-ff5fa2274277.json) ## Summary Birmingham City Council is initiating a Soft Market Sounding Exercise titled "WM Placement Portal Replacement", aimed at identifying a web-based IT solution for a single portal that will facilitate service brokerage and placement searches across 14 local authorities and children's trusts in the West Midlands region of the United Kingdom. This procurement process is currently in the planning stage, with the engagement end date set for 26 March 2021. The project falls under the IT services sector, classified as CPV code 72000000. Interested suppliers can participate via the In-Tend e-Tendering system, for which free registration is mandatory to access the tender documents. This tender represents an opportunity for businesses, especially small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs), to showcase innovative IT solutions that meet the high-level functional and technical requirements outlined by Birmingham City Council. By participating in this process, businesses have the chance to contribute to the development of a robust online portal, potentially enhancing their market presence and driving growth through collaboration with public sector organisations in the West Midlands region. ## Notice Birmingham City Council (BCC) is working with West Midlands Children's Services (a collaborative of 14 Local Authorities (LA's) and Children's Trusts (Trusts)) to undertake Soft Market testing exercise for a web-based IT solution that provides a single portal for use by all 14 LA's and Trusts that enables brokerage of services and placements searches across a number of frameworks. The West Midlands Local Authorities & Trusts include Birmingham Children's Trust, Coventry City Council, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, Herefordshire Council, Sandwell Children's Trust, Shropshire County Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-On-Trent City Council, Borough of Telford & Wrekin , Walsall Council, Warwickshire County Council, Wolverhampton City Council and Worcestershire Children First. There are approx. 200 staff from commissioning and placements teams across the 14 LAs and Trusts that are registered users of the current system and around 800 providers. This is subject to change as new frameworks are added. The Birmingham City Council (BCC) though this market testing exercise is looking for supplier(s) who can provide the council with a secure online portal for Child Care Placement service. The purpose of this Soft Market Testing Exercise is to gain a better understanding of what solutions are available in the market that could provide a viable alternative or enhancement to the Council's current online portal and to support BCC in development a specification. Birmingham City Council has also provided a few general high-level functional requirements that the existing online account solution provides, plus several high-level technical requirements. Suppliers are asked to rate their own offerings in relation to these. The existing system is due to expire in 2022 and we are interested to learn about innovative ideas and potential future solutions for its replacement. Birmingham City Council will be using its e-Tendering system, In-Tend, for the administration of this process and supplier must register with the system to be able to obtain the documents. The web address is: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/birminghamcc. Registration and use of In-Tend is free. All correspondence for this process must be via the In-Tend correspondence function. If you are unable to register with In-Tend, please either email:cps@birmingham.gov.uk or call +44 1214648000. Your completed submission should be returned by noon on 26 March 2021 (5pm) using In-Tend. Please note that this is not a call for competition. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/8e89906e-4aa4-4e5b-93a4-a6a8ba933198 | | Notice type | Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Not specified | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 2 Mar 2021 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 26 Mar 2021 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL | | Locality | BIRMINGHAM | | Post town | Birmingham | | Postcode | B4 7WB | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) | | ITL 2 | TLG3 West Midlands | | ITL 3 | TLG31 Birmingham | | Local authority | Birmingham | | Electoral ward | Newtown | | Westminster constituency | Birmingham Ladywood | | Delivery location | TLG West Midlands (England) | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ### Codes - 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ## Release History - 2 Mar 2021 at 15:06 - Planning - Market Engagement Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/8e89906e-4aa4-4e5b-93a4-a6a8ba933198 ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/8e89906e-4aa4-4e5b-93a4-a6a8ba933198 2nd March 2021 - Early engagement notice on Contracts Finder ## Notice URLs - http://www.in-tendhost.co.uk/birminghamcc - https://in-tendhost.co.uk/birminghamcc ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-0938178b-e135-4d87-964e-ff5fa2274277. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-0938178b-e135-4d87-964e-ff5fa2274277.json.