Community Engagement, Independent Support & Investment Funding

This notice relates to a potential procurement for the provision of independent engagement and investment funding support to communities.

Radioactive Waste Management (RWM) has been established as the delivery body responsible for the implementation of a safe, sustainable and publicly acceptable programme for the geological disposal of the UK's higher activity radioactive waste.

In December 2018 the UK Government published a policy which laid out the commitment to a consent-based process to find a suitable location for a geological disposal facility (GDF). In January 2019 the Welsh Government published an equivalent policy.

Communities will be at the heart of the Siting Process for a GDF and a facility will only be built where both a suitable site and a willing community can be found. Consequently, the process to site a GDF will be the first community consent based siting process for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project.

For further information on Radioactive Waste Management: www.gov.uk/rwm and https://geologicaldisposal.campaign.gov.uk/

Objectives

RWM has a requirement for a Service Provider(s) to:

1. provide flexible and scalable independent support to communities entering the process for the siting of a Geological Disposal Facility for the disposal of higher activity radioactive waste - this activity will initially be focused on ensuring RWM and communities have the independent support and resources to operate effective Working Groups and Community Partnership to enable community engagement.

and

2. the end-to-end administration of Community Investment Funding of up to £1m per community per year, where communities form a Community Partnership with RWM

Scope RWM requires the support of a service provider to ensure communities have access to scalable, flexible, independent support to engage with RWM for a period of up to the first 5 years of the GDF siting process.

This will require the service provider to work with RWM, interested parties and other community representatives to understand their needs for independent support once they have made public their interest in the siting of a GDF in their area. The main/initial activities are to support each Working Group and RWM to source, supply and manage an:

1. independent Chair 2. independent facilitator 3. secretariat to undertake day-to-day delivery of Working Group and Community Partnership activity

The level of support required in communities to form Working Groups and make the transition to a Community Partnership will vary, depending on the interested parties which coming forward, and the existing capacity and capability in each associated community.

In addition RWM requires a service to administer Community Investment Funding in communities where Community Partnerships are formed. RWM requires this service to cover the full cycle of grant making: 1. marketing of the availability of funding 2. collecting and screening applications (including proportionate due dilige