Provision of the Government Grants Managed Service - BAU

Description

The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to notify all interested parties of the Cabinet Office's intention to undertake a procurement exercise for the appointment of a Supplier of operational staff for the business-as-usual running of the Government Grant Managed Service (GGMS). The Authority is open to interest from both individual organisations and consortia. The GGMS, established following a two-year pilot, is the new centralised, managed service to administer general government grants on behalf of departments, ALBs and local authorities. The contract length will be for 3 years and will have the ability to be extended by 12 months, on two occasions. The service is intended for a range of general government grants of varying size, value and complexity from departments, arm's length bodies and local authorities. We expect the portfolio to be up to £2 billion in value over the 3 years of the contract. Lot 1: Main Services Required To provide staff to deliver a high-quality grant administration service: one that instils confidence in departments, ALBs and local authorities when entrusting their grant requirements. To deliver the administration of all grants within the GGMS portfolio, in accordance with each customer's required timelines. The performance of each grant will need to be monitored and reported through the lifecycle, to assess the efficiency and quality of the service provided. To provision flexible resourcing, to enable the service to draw on necessary skills on a just-in-time basis; to scale resources up or down within a 3-week period upon request from the Cabinet Office to manage fluctuations in business-as-usual demand. To deliver the GGMS in accordance with the Cabinet Office's existing operating procedures and utilise the current technology; no alternative processes or technologies are permitted. Key Participation Requirements Extensive experience of operating managed services. Specific expertise in government grant management and adherence to the Functional Standard GovS 015: Grants. Expertise in counter-fraud and assurance in grant making. Ability to effectively work in blended teams (civil servant and supplier). Across the lifecycle of the contract, the GGMS is expected to increase the ratio of civil servants within these blended operations. The human resources to operate the managed service must hold BPSS level security clearance as a minimum, with SC clearance potentially required for some individuals. We are currently exploring the potential routes to market with RM6322 CCS DPS Funds Administration & Disbursement Services (FAADS) being one of the options we are keenly exploring. Supplier ability to provide services in the UK (for the avoidance of doubt, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales) both remotely and face to face as required. Proposed route to market The Cabinet Office will hold a one hour market briefing event at 11:00, 15 August 2025. An extended two-week window for clarification questions from interested parties will follow until 17:00, 29 August. The Cabinet Office will extend an opportunity to all suppliers to meet 1:1 before 29 August. A meeting can be requested following the market briefing event. Response Interested parties who are able to meet the requirements are invited to respond to this engagement by emailing and confirming govgrantsmanagedservice@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. The deadline to submit your response is 12:00 Noon, on 8 August 2025. All replies must clearly state both the supplier's interest, and the capability to offer the main services required and meet the key participation requirements. This PIN exercise does not constitute a form of agreement or assurance from the Cabinet Office regarding the development of the procurement process.