Design, implement and support Hart District Council's website using the LocalGov Drupal platform

Description

Summary of the work Design and build a new Hart District Council website based on LocalGov Drupal code, templates and modules. Upskill existing team to continue transformation beyond the lifetime of the contract. Provide maintenance, support and hosting for the duration of the project Expected Contract Length 24 months with option to extend for six months Latest start date Monday 28 February 2022 Budget Range We have split the budget into three parts: • Build and develop site using LocalGov Drupal code, templates, and modules = £30,000-£50,000 in Year 1 • We want to keep pace with the LocalGov Drupal community and introduce technical developments that would meet our requirements. We will set aside £15,000 in Year 2 for this work • Year 1 and 2 host, security and support costs = £15,000 - £20,000 per year. Why the Work is Being Done Hart District Council requires a new website to meet the needs of users and the council. The current solution uses Drupal 7 and the platform is end of support in November 2022. The overall goal of the website project is to create a WCAG 2.1 AA compliant, mobile designed website that provides easy to access information for users with improved architecture to transact with us across the range of services. The council would like to develop the functionality of the site and utilise as many features as possible developed by the LocalGov Drupal community. The council will use this opportunity to introduce uniform standards for the customer experience including template designs and online forms. We are moving toward a digital first future with residents, partners and stakeholders being able to interact and transact online easily and quickly. It is essential that our website is robust enough to form the centre piece to our overall digital strategy. Problem to Be Solved We receive approx. 45,000 visitors to the site each month but we want to increase this number and help them do more online. Since the launch of the current website, CMS platforms have matured, with an increasing focus on user input to inform design and function. There is an inconsistent experience across the site. Content can be improved and some is out of date or hard to find. In addition, there is a wide range of customer forms across the site with a number of formats that contribute to an uneven experience. The website must be supported and hosted in the UK in a secure environment and have a full disaster recovery and backup procedures. As a minimum, we require staging and production environments. We link to separate portals for Planning, Parking, Housing and Council Tax. In addition, we have links to Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council who manage our waste services and East Hampshire for our GIS mapping capabilities. We're looking for a digital agency to help us develop the website using LocalGov Drupal and help it become an exemplar in the local government sector Who Are the Users Our audience include residents, visitors, staff & councillors, businesses and our partners. Some user case examples include: As a resident, I need easy to find, clear information about local council services so that I can meet my households needs As a resident, I want simple and intuitive online services so I can transact with the council successfully, first time, on any device As a local business, I need easy to find, clear information about my council's support offer, so that I can meet my business needs As a Communication Officer, I need a straightforward and cost effective way of upgrading and maintaining our website, so that it delivers accessible and useful information to all users As a Communication Manager, I need to provide access and create authorisation levels for different types of users so that content and forms are only accessed by those that need them As a Head of Service lead, I need to provide a website that meets WCAG 2.1, PCI and GDPR requirements so that the council meet its statutory obligations As a IT lead, I need a secure and hosted platform within a ISO-accredited UK data centre so that the website is protected from cyber attack Early Market Engagement We have spoken to a range of CMS and DXP suppliers in the market. We have also consulted with a number of local authorities regarding their websites. We have engaged with the LocalGov Drupal community to understand how this approach can benefit Hart Work Already Done - Desktop research into neighbouring local authority websites and councils on the Silktide index - Baseline review of existing website, including links to third party systems and published forms - Analytics review including published content types, transaction volumes, website page views, bounce rates - Work is underway on content audit, proposed site architecture and we have established internal working group with key content editors across the organisation - Conduced resident survey and initiated resident workshops Existing Team Change & Digital Manager, Website Project Officer, Communications and Engagement Manager, IT Manager and Content Editors across the organisation. Third party suppliers for design and API integration work Current Phase Not applicable Skills & Experience • Experience in design, development and implementation of a Drupal 9 based website • Provide visually engaging customer-first websites that have transformed the online experience for users • Confirm commitment to the delivery of an MVP by May 2022 with full launch by end of October 2022 • Have at least five years experience of hosting and supporting websites of a similar scale to Hart's current website • Provide Drupal security admin and access control, allowing authorised users to perform full CRUD operations on data and objects related to website activities (page creation, navigation, content publication, integration) • Have understanding and experience of providing enhanced search functionality and managing search engine optimisation • Have experience of delivering services that meet GDS Service Standard, DLUHC Local Digital Declaration and GDS Technology Code of Practice • Experience of integration with key line of business applications such as Uniform, Whitespace and Capita • Demonstrate how they have designed high volume digital services to meet wide ranging user needs; includes mapping business requirements, developing user journeys, stories, personas and wireframes for content pages/types • Provide Drupal training and knowledge transfer to content publishers and technical administrators, allowing a self-sufficient approach to develop the Drupal components responding to future business or legal requirements • Demonstrate how they adhere and comply with hosted (cloud based) websites that achieve and conform to the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre cloud security guidance • Provide qualified, skilled resource for the duration of the project, provide advice in content design and information architecture, user research and service delivery • Experience of compliance with website accessibility standards which adhere to W3C WCAG 2.1 and Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No. 2) Accessibility Regulations 2018, ensuring future continued compliance • Understanding and experience of working with internal IT teams to arrange cloud hosting solutions • Understanding and experience of data security and compliance (GDPR) • Provide rigorous pre-deployment QA and testing regime • Provide business continuity processes and procedures ensuring minimal service disruption; have effective disaster recovery procedures to implement RPO and RTO; with high availability service levels of 99.99% operational uptime • Create secure online forms for data capture, file uploads, and processing payment transactions, for both authenticated and anonymous users • Keep application up to date with security patches and fixes required under SLA Nice to Haves • Demonstrate how they have developed and implemented a Drupal 9 website using the LocalGov Drupal distribution framework • Provide online booking functionality within the Drupal instance, enabling users and groups to book and amend attendance at events, both free or paid for • Provide a solution how we can incorporate e-newsletter functionality to allow users to register and receive email newsletters • Be carbon neutral or have a published roadmap to being a carbon neutral agency Work Location Hart District Council offices at Harlington Way, Fleet, GU51 4AE. Working Arrangments We would expect a digital agency to work with us on this project for as long as necessary each week. The length of time spent on this project by the agency each week will be determined based on the requirements of the project. We anticipate kick-off and face-to-face meetings for key tasks, issue resolution, and project planning to be held on-site if possible, determined by the most current Covid restrictions. Otherwise, fortnightly reporting via show and tells with relevant project team members Security Clearance BPSS Additional T&Cs All bids are to be produced at the suppliers expense. We are not bound to accept any tender, nor enter into a contract as a result of this procurement. In addition, the winning supplier is obliged to provide sufficient guarantees to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures so that the processing meets the requirements of GDPR and ensures the protection of the rights of data subjects. All expenses following contract award must be pre-agreed between the parties. No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 4 Proposal Criteria • Understanding the tasks outlined in the brief • Ability to meet the requirements including the timescales outlined • Delivery methodology for the overall project • Business continuity and security arrangements Cultural Fit Criteria • Be able to work well with colleagues across Hart District Council, the LocalGovDrupal community and existing 3rd party suppliers • Be able to share detailed knowledge and skills regarding Drupal platform, project management methodology and continuous improvement with colleagues across Hart • Be able to up-skill and train in-house teams to create a sustainable website • Demonstrate how you intend to run a project of this nature • Be transparent, collaborative, and innovative in terms of problem solving and decision making • Communicate complex technical issues to non-technical content editors and business owners Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method • Case study • Work history • Reference • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 10% Price 30% Questions from Suppliers 1. Hart District Council further information published We have created a website specification to help suppliers with this opportunity.https://hartdistrictcouncil.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/Communications/EWISTuhhhqpCiTPH-UkyZBgBoorj8opMIsN9JCjYMTQIsg?e=5vYYDW 2. Would you consider a Drupal 9 based “Commercial Off The Shelf” solution for this instead such as https://councilplatform.com/? That product was used to build the site of https://www.north-herts.gov.uk/ at a total cost of £23.5k including a full content migration, so offers considerable cost savings over an implementation of LocalGov Drupal. The product is also continuously improved as more sites are built with it, so provides cost ongoing savings in the long term compared with backporting from LocalGov Drupal. Thank you for your interest. We conducted soft market testing last year and looked at the pros and cons of a range of options. We're now committed to the LocalGov Drupal approach so we won't be considering alternative commercial propositions. As a small council, we're keen to explore how other local authorities are deploying and developing Drupal and benefit from the work that has already been completed. 3. Can you provide more information on LocalGov Drupal, e.g. what version it is. Are there any resources available to allow us to familiarise ourselves with it? LocalGov Drupal is on Drupal 9. More information is available at https://localgovdrupal.org/. If you're looking for developer documentation, you should go to https://docs.localgovdrupal.org/ 4. In your requirement for hosting, we would ordinarily recommend a dedicated 3rd party hosting provider. Is this acceptable for you? Or do you require hosting to be contracted through the chosen agency partner directly? We will consider all submissions at this stage. As we detail in the specification, longer term, we will explore our options with the digital agency around our hosting arrangements. We want to consider hosting the website within council appointed Azure or AWS environment. We want to own and access this environment, with support from the agency to configure, support and manage the platform within this environment from year 2 of the contract and beyond. 5. You mention in your website specification document ‘Design and build a new Hart District Council website based on the existing LocalGov Drupal code, templates, and modules’. If you are already familiar with the setup does that mean you have a supplier in mind to support? This opportunity is open to all suppliers on the framework with the relevant skills and experience to assist with this project . We do not have a supplier in mind to support. 6. Do you have a list of applications other than Whitespace, Capital, Civica and Uniform that you would like to integrate with from your website as part of this project? Will these be full integrations (i.e. APIs) or the ability to link across? We anticipate Whitespace will be API integration. We're in discussion with them to look at the scope of the project. Capita, Civica and Uniform are existing links on the current site. We want to improve the user experience from the new CMS to their portals. We also currently link to Astun for GIS capabilities, Mi-Permit & councilparking for parking. We will be linking to Home Connections for housing this year 7. Is it expected for the supplier to be in regular contact with the LocalGov Drupal community and provide updates to modules submitted by themselves as well as other suppliers? We want to contribute to the LocalGov Drupal community and be active members of their Product and Technical Groups. We aim to sign up to their Memorandum of Understanding which sets out a non-binding agreement how collaboration between councils can work. The successful supplier will be an important stakeholder in this process and we would expect them to follow the MoU. The MoU can be found here https://localgovdrupal.org/drupal-for-councils/memorandum-understanding-mou 8. Do Hart have a MVP level requirement in mind for the website or will this be identified as part of discussions between the chosen supplier and Hart? We're discussing what the MVP could look like. Our current thinking is that we will adopt a similar approach to Cumbria where they redesigned and prototyped a discreet but important section of their existing site. We would work with the successful supplier to help inform this decision. More details about this case study can be found herehttps://localgovdrupal.org/drupal-for-councils/case-study 9. Is prior experience of delivering services that meet GDS Service Standard, DLUHC Local Digital Declaration and GDS Technology Code of Practice a must have requirement? Yes, it is listed as essential 10. Do the 6 types of users have different access roles and functionality separation? If so how do they need to be defined – static or admin driven? Only internal users have access roles. Specifically, this is Communication Officer & Manager who manage the CMS. In addition, and not listed are the editors from across the business who require access to create, edit, update, and remove content.Can you clarify static or admin driven please 11. 1. What type(s) of migration are we expecting if any (in terms of content, users and other data)2. What kind of integrations are we expecting for the below, are they links or any other data points that need to be exchanged?a. Payment System b. User registration c. Whitespace d. Uniform e. Capita f. Online booking3. Are the online forms cited local to the Drupal Environment or require integration with other systems?4. Is there a search API used in the current Drupal 7 site? Is any external API required like apache SOLR for enhancing content search? 1. We are conducting a full review of all content types on the existing site. This will result in manual migration. We will review all users and manually migrate. No other data to be transferred at this stage2. Currently, the only API integration will be Whitespace and we will work with both Whitespace and supplier to scope this out 3. Currently all forms are local but we would like to explore waste services integration with Whitespace4. We use Google site search API. We would like to investigate enhancing the search function 12. You mention in Question 18 that you require 99.99% uptime guarantee. Is this a hard and fast requirement or would 99.5% be acceptable? We ask this as 99.99% uptime is expensive and could account for most or all of the budget you have indicated for the annual hosting, security and support. Please advise. Thanks for your enquiry. Yes, we would accept 99.5% 13. Can you confirm if interested suppliers are just required to fill out the fields generated on the digital marketplace at this stage and not provide a proposal/costings for the work? Will costings be required for the work at a future stage? At this stage, you need to go through the essential and nice-to-have criteria. If you are successful at the shortlisting stage, we will ask you to provide details of your project plan and provide costs.