Revenues and Benefits Service

Reading Borough Council (RBC) is a Unitary Authority in Berkshire serving a population of more than 160,000 people. Further information on the profile of RBC can be found at http://www.reading.gov.uk/borough-profile RBC continues to face significant pressure on budgets with further savings to be made over the next three years. The Council has already made savings in the Corporate Support Services (CSS) function (which includes administration of Housing Benefits, Council Tax Support, collection of Council Tax, Business Rates and Sundry Debts) but further savings and additional income targets are required. In February 2018, the Council approved a decision to market test the Revenues and Benefits services with the objective to identify if service providers could deliver the services at a lower cost whilst maintaining or improving service quality. As a result, the Council is now considering a public procurement exercise to identify a supplier to deliver these services.

Additional information: Organisations who wish to express an interest in entering into a preliminary dialogue with the council in respect of the provision of these services should complete and submit an expression of interest. Interested organisations are asked to self-certify that they can meet the minimum requirements related to previous experience and current examples of delivering similar services.

Reading Borough Council intends to use the information supplied to assess whether suitable suppliers exist to meet our requirements. If the Council decides that there is sufficient interest from suppliers we may decide to proceed with a procurement exercise via further OJEU advertisement, which will formerly invite tenders. The Council does not commit to enter into a formal procurement exercise at this stage.

Background Reading Borough Council (RBC) is a Unitary Authority in Berkshire serving a population of more than 160,000 people. Further information on the profile of RBC can be found at http://www.reading.gov.uk/borough-profile RBC continues to face significant pressure on budgets with further savings to be made over the next three years. The Council has already made savings in the Corporate Support Services (CSS) function (which includes administration of Housing Benefits, Council Tax Support, collection of Council Tax, Business Rates and Sundry Debts) but further savings and additional income targets are required. In February 2018, the Council approved a decision to market test the Revenues and Benefits services with the objective to identify if service providers could deliver the services at a lower cost whilst maintaining or improving service quality. As a result, the Council is now considering a public procurement exercise to identify a supplier to deliver these services.

The contract value is expected to be in the range £1.5m - £2.5m p.a. Contract duration is open for discussion. The Council is keen to hear from potential suppliers about innovative commercial models for the delivery of these services. to enter into dialogue with organisations which meet a minimum requirement to deliver these services. The minimum requirement is to demonstrate the delivery of at least one contract for Revenues and Benefits Services (as identified in scope) with a minimum value of £1m p.a.

This is an early engagement exercise as part of the development of a planned procurement. Organisations interested in responding to the consultation should download the documents which are available on the Council`s e-tendering system at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/readingbc/aspx/Home and complete as instructed.

Technical questions and assistance regarding the use and operation of the Portal should be addressed to the In-Tend Help Desk - e-mail: [email protected], telephone number +44 8442728810.