PS21317 - Horizon Scanning in OPSS Scan 1.0

* Please note this is not a call for competition.*

OPSS' First Horizon Scan "Scan 1.0"

The Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) was created in January 2018 to deliver consumer protection and to support business confidence, productivity and growth. We regulate a wide range of products with a focus on their safety and integrity. We work with local, national and international regulators, with consumer representatives and with businesses to deliver effective protections and to support compliance.

Our mission is to be a trusted product regulator for the UK. This means protecting people and places, enabling business to thrive and empowering consumers to make good choices. We will be a leader of good regulatory practice and a champion of local regulation.

Description

OPSS wishes to become a more proactive regulator, this is a common challenge for most regulators. One route OPSS is pursuing to become more proactive is to start to look to the future to see what challenges may be coming down the line and start to prepare for them.

We have started developing a new horizon scanning function to help OPSS systematically assess future technologically driven changes (TDCs) up to roughly 20-30 years from now. We want to compile and assess information to understand the possible challenges and concerns OPSS may face as a regulator if these changes become reality in consumers goods, business models, supply chain processes/routes to market etc.

We are looking to work with a supplier to help us deliver the work. We are seeking a supplier which has experience of helping government, ideally other regulators, design and implement horizon scanning processes.

As a fledgling function it is important that as well as providing expert resource to help deliver the work, working closely with our small team, that we can learn best practice in horizon scanning from the ideal supplier over the course of delivering this work. Our ideal supplier would support and improve our own horizon scanning capability through working with us on this project.

The aim of this first scan is to develop an initial prioritised list of future and emerging technologically driven changes (TDCs) for OPSS and to improve our understanding of horizon scanning processes.

Our objectives for the work are as follows:

• To develop and sort a long-list of TDCs into a taxonomy • To develop metrics for assessing TDCs based on OPSS' interests and responsibilities • To gather evidence as rapid literature reviews on TDCs to support scoring • Score/assess and prioritise TDCs by applying our metrics to the evidence gathered • To review and critique process and share knowledge of what worked and what did not • To create new information flows around the Office so we can make best use of our findings.

We have already started work on the taxonomy and metrics outputs and would want to work with the supplier to refine and finalise these outputs as well as delivering subsequent stages together.

Additional information: Budget and Duration

This contract is expected to run from May 2022 to August 2022. Maximum budget of the requirement is £105,000.00 excluding VAT.

Supplier Feedback

This Prior Information notice is being issued to undertake a pre-market supplier engagement day with regards to the current view of the requirement detailed above.

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ("BEIS") would like to hear feedback from potential suppliers based on the following: • Confirmation on whether you would be interested in this tender. • Confirmation as to whether you can deliver the services in line with the estimated budget. Where suppliers are not able to deliver the services in line with the estimated budget, please advise what budget you could deliver the services for? • Confirmation as to whether you can deliver the services within the estimated timeframe. • Any other comments from suppliers regarding this work.

Supplier Engagement

This engagement notice is being issued to undertake a pre-market consultation exercise with regards to the current view of requirement detailed above.

By registering and attending you will be engaging in non-competitive dialogue which will enable BEIS to develop and assess the market's appetite, and views on formulation of its requirements.

The session will last approximately 90 minutes and comprise of the following: • Introductions + OPSS Background • Overview of the project including aims, objectives, and project timeline • Suggested project methodology • Procurement process • Open floor discussion and Q&A

BEIS may consider the information and responses received as part of the preliminary market consultation to help inform the specification and further decision making in relation to the planning and conduct of the proposed procurement.

For the avoidance of doubt, this notice is not a Call for Competition; a Contract Notice will be issued as a call for competition. Not registering interest shall not prevent any supplier participating in a future procurement, nor is it intended that any information supplied as part of the preliminary market consultation shall place any supplier at an advantage in a potential procurement process.

A pre-market engagement session will be held on Thursday, 17th March 2022, 13:00 - 14:30 via MS Teams. This will provide an opportunity for potential providers to find out more about the aims of the procurement and the process. Providers wishing to attend need to RSVP by Monday, 14th March at 16.00 stating their name, company and email.

This information should be sent to the following email address: [email protected] for the attention of Victoria Clewer.

Please ensure that the subject heading for the email is as follows: PS21317 Horizon Scanning in OPSS Scan 1.0.

**The route to market will be via Futures Framework**