Provision of Contract Lifecycle Management System for Action for Children

Action for Children is seeking a contract management and signing tool to radically improve our contract reviewing, signing and storing processes within our revenue generating Directorate, Children's Services.

The focus for this tool will be on managing incoming contracts issued by Commissioning Bodies, following a successful tender outcome. These contracts need to go through a full review process with internal stakeholders before they are approved and signed. There will also be a small number of outgoing contracts being generated, for example where we are working with a sub-contractor or third party.

It is anticipated that the volume of work will not exceed 50 contracts per quarter, with a peak of activity across January - March.

Action for Children is a UK wide organisation operating on a national basis, with individual Directors managing each nation. Each of the 4 nations have a slightly different approach to the contract review and sign off process, which we are hoping to align as part of this project. One thing all nations have in common is a central point for managing contracts, which is typically a National Business Support Lead. The other area of commonality is the departments/teams each nation needs to engage with during the review and sign off process, as this is standardised across the organisation. Please see Appendix One for a high level map of our current process.

We are currently using an off the shelf electronic contract signing solution across all areas of our organisation for the signing of documents. The contract management and review process sits outside of this, and is heavily reliant of the use of email to communicate with staff involved in the reviewing and signing of documents.

One of the key issues identified by our stakeholders is the inefficiency of our current process, in particular the volume of email traffic associated with document review. Alongside this, document version control also presents a challenge. Due to the high level of emails it can be difficult to identify the master copy, as well as pinpoint what (if anything) has been changed in the document since it was last reviewed by a stakeholder.

We are looking for a tool that will significantly reduce the amount of time we spend on getting a contract reviewed and signed, providing a clearly defined process that enables strict document version control. This will improve our reputation with our commissioners by demonstrating a streamlined and efficient process for contract review and sign off, with a faster turnaround for returning signed documents. In turn, this will help us win and retain more contracts, so that we can continue to help as many children and young people as we can.

To apply for this opportunity, please email buying@actionforchildren.org.uk

Additional information: Email buying@actionforchildren.org.uk for the full suite of tender documents.