--- title: "GSV2667 - ICGS Helpline Procurement" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0446c1" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0446c1" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0446c1.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0446c1.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "THE CORPORATE OFFICER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND THE CORPORATE OFFICER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS" published: "2024-03-08" --- # GSV2667 - ICGS Helpline Procurement Buyer: THE CORPORATE OFFICER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND THE CORPORATE OFFICER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0446c1 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0446c1) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0446c1.json) ## Summary The Corporate Officer of the House of Commons and the House of Lords has announced a planned procurement for the provision of the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) Helpline service. This service, valued at approximately £480,000, aims to support individuals seeking advice on bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct within the parliamentary community. Interested suppliers are required to express their interest by contacting Paul Younger (email: youngerpb@parliament.uk) no later than 12 noon on Monday 25th March 2024. The procurement process is at the planning stage, with the contract notice set to be published on Find a Tender in April 2024. This tender presents an opportunity for businesses specializing in helpdesk and support services to compete for a lucrative contract with the parliamentary authorities. The successful supplier will be expected to deliver a hybrid helpline service combining external and in-house support, aimed at providing emotional support and handling formal complaints related to bullying and harassment issues. Businesses with expertise in delivering bespoke services for sensitive matters and experience in the public sector would be well-suited to participate in this competitive tendering process. The contract spans an initial term of two years with the possibility of two one-year extensions, offering long-term growth potential for the chosen supplier. ## Notice This is a Prior Information Notice, please express your interest if you intend to tender for this opportunity. Suppliers who express their interest in this forthcoming requirement will be informed when the Pre Qualification Questionnaire / Tender Document is available.Please contact Paul Younger (youngerpb@parliament.uk) to express your interest for this opportunity no later than 12 noon on Monday 25th March 2024. ### Lot Information Lot 1 The Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) was established in 2018 as Parliament's independent mechanism for investigating complaints of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct. It is open to all current and former members of the parliamentary community as well as visitors to the parliamentary estate in Westminster. For context, the ICGS service currently supports circa 10,000 staff including MPs, Peers and their staff as well as administrative staff across the House of Lords and House of Commons. This figure does not include visitors to the estate or contractors. An external supplier has been delivering a remote independent helpline to support those seeking advice on bullying and harassment and sexual misconduct issues since July 2020 and this notice invites organisations to express their interest in being considered for the new procurement competition. Those who express an interest will be requested to sign a non-disclosure agreement in order to be invited to a presentation to find out more about the contract. The Authority plans to publish the Contract Notice on Find a Tender in April 2024.Following consultation with stakeholders on the effectiveness of the current helpline in late 2023/early 2024 it has been decided to adopt a hybrid approach for the new contract which is currently being expanded on and will be detailed in the service specification. Stakeholders were asked to give their preference on 3 options as follows: i) a helpline which maintains total external independence, but with updated requirements on quality assurance and information sharing ii) moving all services in-house to be delivered by parliamentary staff iii) a hybrid model with some services being delivered externally and others being delivered collaboratively by an external supplier and in-house staff. There remains a strong desire for an externally delivered helpline acknowledging that it is a challenge for any external supplier to develop strong knowledge of the operational side of parliament. As a result of the consultation, the decision has been made to pursue option iii) a hybrid approach.The successful supplier will be expected to deliver bespoke services to support the ICGS including a dedicated helpline service with both telephone and email options for callers inquiring about bullying and harassment and sexual misconduct, as well as offering emotional support, where required. The service must take formal complaints from service users and forward them to the ICGS team for investigation. Additional personal support provided by Independent Sexual Violence Advocates (ISVA) must be available for any service user experiencing sexual misconduct. The service will be required from Monday to Friday 9.00am-6.00pm, excluding Bank Holidays, with an out of hours answerphone service with an expected response to calls which will be detailed in the specification.The contract will be for an initial term of two years with two optional one year extensions (2+1+1 maximum term of four years) and the projected cumulative expenditure is circa PS480,000 assuming a contract of four years is taken up. Please contact Paul Younger (youngerpb@parliament.uk) to express your interest for this opportunity no later than 12noon on Monday 25th March 2024. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/007483-2024 | | Notice type | Planning Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 8 Mar 2024 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 7 Mar 2024 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £480,000 | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planned | | Lots status | Planned | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | THE CORPORATE OFFICER OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS AND THE CORPORATE OFFICER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS | | Locality | LONDON | | Post town | Not specified | | Postcode | SW1A OAA | | Country | Not specified | | ITL 1 | Not specified | | ITL 2 | Not specified | | ITL 3 | Not specified | | Local authority | Not specified | | Electoral ward | Not specified | | Westminster constituency | Not specified | | Delivery location | TLI32 Westminster | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ### Codes - 72253000 - Helpdesk and support services ## Release History - 8 Mar 2024 at 11:49 - Planning - Planning Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/007483-2024 ## Notice URLs - https://in-tendhost.co.uk/parliamentuk/aspx/Home ## 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-h6vhtk-0446c1. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0446c1.json.