Economics Observatory - Stakeholder impact assessment and report contract

Overview

The Economics Observatory (ECO) is a research programme funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). ECO is seeking to appoint a consultant to undertake a stakeholder impact assessment and report the findings in a 5000 word evaluation report. The report will contribute to a suite of evaluation reports submitted to the ESRC as part of their evaluation and monitoring process.

ECO conducts periodic in-house monitoring against a series of indicators, the stakeholder impact assessment will be separate to ECO's ongoing monitoring activity. The report will track ECO's progress in achieving target outcomes for each its key stakeholder audience.

ECO's key stakeholder audiences are (i) policymakers and (ii) academics. Each audience's engagement with ECO is distinct therefore the contractor is asked to assess ECO's impact on each group differently. The contractor will be required to conduct qualitative research with representatives from both audiences to determine: how ECO is perceived by each group.

Detailed stakeholder profiles, and contact information for potential stakeholder representatives, will be provided to the contactor to support the research.

The contractor will be responsible for suggesting the design and delivery of the research which ECO will help shape. The contractor will implement the research independently.

The contractor should submit their analysis as a 5000 word report together with the research outputs in full as an appendix. Headline draft findings should be presented by October 2021 and a first draft of the report should be ready for review in December 2021.

The final report should be complete by April 2022.

Proposal requirements

To bid for this contract please set out a proposal for the research and report in no more than five pages.

The proposal should include: • a timeline for the project (including key milestones for within the research phase) • research methodology • an outline of proposed questions for each stakeholder group • intended approach for contacting stakeholders • approach to recording results • a list of potential risk and proposed mitigations

Please also provide examples of two similar contracts you have completed. Evidence of previous contracts should be submitted in addition to the five page proposal.

How to apply

Please submit your proposal to [email protected] by 0900 on 25 June 2021.

If you would like an informal conversation with a member of the project team about the contract before submitting your bid please send your request to [email protected] by 14 June 2021.

Additional information: Minimum Requirements

The minimum requirements for this contract are as follows:

To deliver a stakeholder impact report by April 2022 informed by qualitative research conducted with representatives from each of ECO's key stakeholder audiences.

The stakeholder impact assessment should: (i) provide an executive summary of research findings; (ii) provide an introduction; (iii) describe the research methodology used; (iv) describe the impact ECO has achieved for both stakeholder audiences in relation to the specified outcome; (v) provide descriptive examples of the specific impacts ECO has had on each group; (vi) provide an overall judgement of how well ECO has achieved the specified outcome for each stakeholder group; and (vii) provide the full research outputs as an appendix to the report.

Deliverables

• A final proposal of the research project with timeline, milestones, research methodology (following the award of contact) in MS Word format. • Presentation of headline finding, in MS Word format, and access to a repository of research outputs, in MS Excel format. • First draft report for internal review by the ECO team, in MS Word format. • Attendance of ad hoc meetings to observe stakeholder engagement at the requested of the ECO team. No more than three hours for the duration of the contact. • Proposed final draft of the report in MS Word format. • Final report in PDF format.

Timeline and milestones

Start of contract:19 July 2021 Full research methodology submitted: 16 August 2021 Clarifications: 3 September 2021 Headline findings presented: 29 October 2021 First draft submitted: 9 December 2021 Proposed report submitted: 18 February 2022 Feedback from project team: 4 March 2022 Final report submitted: 1 April 2022

Proposal requirements

To bid for this contract please set out a proposal for the research and report in no more than five pages. The proposal should include:

• a timeline for the project (including key milestones for within the research phase) • research methodology • an outline of proposed questions for each stakeholder groups • intended approach for contacting stakeholders • approach to recording results • a list of potential risk and proposed mitigations

Please also provide examples of two similar contracts you have completed. Evidence of previous contracts should be submitted in addition to the five page proposal.

Successful proposal

An offer of the contact will be made to the successful proposer following an informal call with project team, by 12 July.

If you do not receive an offer of the contact by this date please assume that your proposal has been unsuccessful. Feedback will not be given on unsuccessful proposals.

The maximum value of contract (£10,000) includes VAT.