--- title: "GSV2667 - ICGS Helpline Support Services" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-045185" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-045185" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-045185.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-045185.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "CORPORATE OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS AND HOUSE OF COMMONS" published: "2024-04-15" --- # GSV2667 - ICGS Helpline Support Services Buyer: CORPORATE OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS AND HOUSE OF COMMONS Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-045185 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-045185) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-045185.json) ## Summary The Corporate Officers of the House of Lords and House of Commons are seeking a single supplier for the procurement of telephone and email support services for the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) related to bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct. The contract is for an initial term of two years with two optional one-year extensions, with a projected cumulative expenditure of around £480,000. The procurement method is an open procedure, with the tender period ending on 18th April 2024 and the bid opening scheduled for 20th May 2024 at the Palace of Westminster. This tender presents an opportunity for businesses specializing in helpdesk and support services to provide bespoke services to support the ICGS. The contract requires a dedicated helpline service operating Monday to Friday, offering support to service users and forwarding formal complaints for investigation. Interested parties must sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to access tender documents. The successful supplier will need to deliver services aligned with a hybrid approach determined following stakeholder consultation. Additional personal support for sexual misconduct cases must be provided, creating an opportunity for businesses adept at handling sensitive and confidential matters. ## Notice The Authority are seeking a single supplier to provide telephone and email telephone support services to investigate complaints of bullying, harassment, and sexual misconduct. ### 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. Before being issued with the tender documents interested parties must sign a Non Disclosure Agreement (NDA). The ITT will be issued on Friday 19th April around 2.00pm. Any party who has already signed and returned an NDA following the Prior Information Notice already published does not need to sign another NDA. Please contact Paul Younger to receive the NDA by email at - youngerpb@parliament.uk or alternatively contact pcd@parliament.uk. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012158-2024 | | Notice type | Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Open procedure | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 15 Apr 2024 | | Submission deadline | 18 Apr 2024 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £480,000 | | Lots value | £480,000 | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Active | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | CORPORATE OFFICERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS AND HOUSE OF COMMONS | | Locality | LONDON | | Post town | South West London | | Postcode | SW1A 0AA | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLI London | | ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West | | ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London | | Local authority | Westminster | | Electoral ward | St James's | | Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster | | Delivery location | TLI32 Westminster | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support ### Codes - 72253000 - Helpdesk and support services ## Release History - 15 Apr 2024 at 11:55 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012158-2024 - 11 Apr 2024 at 14:57 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/011834-2024 ## Notice URLs - https://atamis-ukparliament.my.site.com/s/Welcome - https://www.parliament.uk/ ## 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-045185. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-045185.json.