Herefordshire Council is in the final stages of appointing a preferred partner to help it implement a major transformation project – called Herefordshire Connects – that aims to significantly improve the quality of council services for local people and secure a net cash return of £15.6 million over the next four years.
This Thursday, April 12, the council’s cabinet will consider a recommendation to confirm international consultancy Deloitte as the preferred partner.
The vision for Herefordshire Connects is that every person in the county would have access, at a time and location that is convenient to them, and by any means that suits them, to a single point of contact at the council.
Local people would be able to communicate with trained and empowered council professionals able to respond effectively to their request across the full range of council services available.
The new approach will simplify and streamline the way people access and use local government services in Herefordshire.
Herefordshire Connects is also designed to achieve more efficient and effective ways of working for the council and its employees – achieving cashable benefits that will be used to further improve services.
Without the project, the council would be likely to be forced in the future to make significant cuts to services, given the bleak financial outlook for local government finances as a result of national spending reviews.
The council embarked on its ideas for transformation in September 2005 and the procurement process so far has been the most stringent and the most comprehensive ever undertaken by Herefordshire Council.
The council used an established framework, operated by the Office of Government Commerce, in which 15 potential suppliers for the project were listed. These companies were invited to a supplier day in Hereford in September 2006. Twelve attended and were invited to quote.
Each response was scored on its track record in delivering large-scale transformation projects and achieving benefits, as well as its understanding of Herefordshire’s specific needs. An observer panel invigilated the scoring process and four potential suppliers went through to the next round.
Next, more than 150 employees contributed to and reviewed a comprehensive invitation to tender to the frontrunners. Responses from the companies were further reviewed and scored by more than 50 officers from across the council.
Other officers invigilated these scoring sessions in which more than 100,000 scores and comments were received. A series of “real world” scenarios were enacted to test the technology and proposed solutions.
In addition, an intense commercial assessment, which confirmed the rankings of three leading potential suppliers, was independently verified by Capita Advisory Services, one of the UK’s largest deliverers of big transformation projects for local government.
Public services watchdog the Audit Commission provided a risk assessment. The Office of Government Commerce has subsequently advised that it would be keen to use the Herefordshire Connects procurement as an exemplar case study.
Cabinet endorsement of the appointment of Deloitte would see the council begin robust negotiations as part of the next stage in the procurement.
A report on the outcome of the negotiations will be presented to cabinet in June/July before a final commitment is made to the Herefordshire Connects programme.
The cabinet is recommended to hold a reserve potential partner – the business transformation group SERCO – with whom the council would start negotiations if negotiations with the lead preferred supplier were not concluded.
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