Evaluation of Year 2 of Health, Wellbeing, Nature & Sustainability decision support tool

We are looking for a contractor to deliver an evaluation of the second year of this project, which is developing and testing a new decision support tool that will enable local and combined authorities to better integrate health, wellbeing, nature and sustainability into their strategic planning. The tool is being developed in partnership with four local and combined authorities: Liverpool Combined Authority; Norfolk County Council; Sandwell Metropolitan Council; and Surrey County Council.

This contract will use an existing evaluation framework and logic model to evaluate the tool - its usability, potential uptake and impact, in relation to the latest iterations of available components of the tool - in addition to a light touch evaluation of progress in the second year of the project. It will entail primary data collection and analysis of data from both primary and secondary sources.

For more information, please refer to the accompanying RFQ.

To apply, please respond to the attached Request for Quotation no later than 14/09/2022.

Any clarification questions must be submitted by email by 07/09/2022. Please note that, unless commercially sensitive, both the question and the response will be circulated to all tenderers.

To submit a question, please contact:

• Emma Hinton (Emma.Hinton@NaturalEngland.org.uk) between 10/08/2022-12/08/2022 and 22/08/2022-02/09/2022

• Patrick Shannon-Hughes (Patrick.Shannon-Hughes@NaturalEngland.org.uk) between 15/08/2022-19/08/2022 and between 05/09/2022-06/09/2022

• Tom Mainwaring-Evans (thomas.mainwaring-evans@naturalengland.org.uk) on 07/09/2022

Please submit your quote to Emma Hinton by 14/09/2022 via the email address listed above.

Additional information: Clarification questions:

Q: Is this a new evaluation or a continuation of the previous evaluation?

A: This is a new, distinct evaluation project that will use the evaluation framework developed in the evaluation of the first year of the Health, Wellbeing, Nature and Sustainability tool project.

Q: Would we consider it positive that the project is undertaken by the same group as the year 1 evaluation project, or a different group?

A: We are seeking quotes from multiple organisations and will score all bidders against the same criteria as set out in the Quotation Submission section of the Request for Quotation. Only those factors set out in the Quotation Submission section will be taken into consideration in scoring bids.

Q: What amount of travel would be involved? Would the primary data collection be in person to the 4 local authorities but the rest could be online?

A: We don't have a preference in relation to in-person data collection. The Health, Wellbeing, Nature and Sustainability tool development project has primarily been run remotely, and so project stakeholders are accustomed to participating remotely and use of e.g. Microsoft Teams for meetings. Contractors should note that all quotes will be evaluated in part on cost.

Q: Can you share the Year 1 evaluation?

A: Unfortunately we cannot share the Year 1 Evaluation report. However, the evaluation framework developed as part of the Year 1 Evaluation project is included in the Request for Quotations document.

Q: Does the contractors' experience with working with local authorities need to be England specific?

A: We consider experience of working with local authorities anywhere in the UK to be relevant to this opportunity.