Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) - Resource and Funding Maximisation Market Engagement

Further to the previous FTS PIN (ref. no: 2024/S 000-037463), which was published on 20th November 2024 regarding this forthcoming procurement opportunity, Essex County Council ("the Council") would like to invite prospective providers to engage in a soft market test as part of the market engagement for this project.

The soft market test has been designed to establish the potential level of interest from organisations to deliver a Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) - Resource and Funding Maximisation service and to invite feedback on the proposed structure of this service to inform the Council's commissioning intentions.

Pending a review of the market feedback for this soft market test, the Council intends to commission a VCS Resource and Funding Maximisation Service offer which will work collaboratively with:

• A VCS Universal Standard Support Offer, providing digital business, compliance and learning resources.
• A VCS Community Participation partner, working strategically to develop a culture of participation across Essex and:
• Geographically based resources offering targeted and bespoke support across a range of outcomes.

The primary scope of the VCS Resource and Funding Maximisation service is predicated upon investing in a partner to enable a more strategic approach to maximising the funding and resources for the VCS. This partner will leverage financial and non-financial resources, strengthen the VCS capacity to secure funding, and support a strategic approach to distributing funding and non-financial resources.

For the avoidance of any further doubt, please note that the Council will finalise the scope of this procurement opportunity following the conclusion of the market engagement phase of this project. Therefore, the inclusion of any proposed scope of this procurement alongside any dates and budgetary information for the forthcoming procurement is provided for indicative purposes only. The Council reserves the right to amend this information following confirmation of the procurement timetable for this project. Full details of the structure of this procurement and associated timetable will be detailed within the corresponding Contract Notice in due course.

Further details of the Council's current commissioning intentions for this service and a copy of the online soft market test questionnaire can be accessed via the Council's e-tendering portal: https://procontract.due-north.com/

Please note that you will need to complete the registration process to secure a user account to access the soft market test questionnaire on ProContract. However, please be advised that the registration process is free of charge and provides access to all the current and forthcoming procurement opportunities for Essex County Council alongside several other public sector organisations.

Please note that the deadline for the soft market test responses will be Monday 20th January 2025 at 12:00 and all responses must be submitted via ProContract.

Additional information:

For the avoidance of any further doubt, please note that the stated closing date in Section 1: Summary Information within this notice, relates to the submission deadline for interested parties to respond to the soft market test. The Council will confirm the relevant tender submission deadline for the forthcoming procurement in the respective contract notice in due course.