Provision of Services for an Income Management and Arrears System for Roscommon County Council

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

The contract involves the provision of an intelligent, predictive income management and arrears system for Roscommon County Council. This system is designed to support risk-based rent collection and arrears management across approximately 1,600 tenancies, with an expected increase of 70–100 additional units annually. The contractor will be responsible for the following activities:

• Predictive Analytics: Implementing a risk scoring capability to identify and prioritize cases for officer action based on the likelihood of escalation and recovery potential.
• Case Management Workflows: Developing structured chase paths, worklists, escalation rules, and exception-based re-queuing for cases such as broken payment plans.
• Tenant-Centered Engagement: Establishing controls to ensure timely and proportionate contact with tenants, minimizing over-contact and linking activities to case outcomes.
• Automation: Automating processes to deprioritize low-risk cases and generate routine reminders based on configurable thresholds.
• Communications Capability: Configuring SMS, email, and letter templates in line with Council policies, ensuring full logging to case history with GDPR safeguards.
• Integration: Ensuring compatibility with the Council’s existing Housing Management (iHouse) and finance systems (Agresso/Unit4) via secure APIs or SFTP, including daily synchronization and error reporting.
• Auditability and Compliance: Providing a full audit trail and support for GDPR, data retention, FOI, and complaints handling.
• Reporting and Management Oversight: Creating dashboards and reports covering arrears trends, cash collected, aged balances, and productivity metrics.
• Implementation, Training, and Support: Delivering an implementation plan (indicatively up to 16 weeks), role-based training, and ongoing support.

The contractor must ensure that the solution is scalable and can accommodate future growth in tenancy volumes and data management.

3. Background & buyer context

This procurement aligns with Roscommon County Council's strategic objectives to enhance its housing services, particularly in income management and arrears collection. The Council aims to improve early intervention practices and ensure compliance with national best practices and regulatory expectations. The initiative is part of a broader effort to strengthen financial management within the local authority's housing portfolio, which has been under increasing pressure due to rising tenancy numbers and associated arrears.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following eligibility and selection criteria:

• Turnover requirement: Tenderers must demonstrate a minimum average annual turnover of €300,000 over the last three years.
• Insurance:
• Employers Liability: €13,000,000
• Public Liability: €6,500,000
• Product Liability: €6,500,000
• Professional Indemnity: €1,000,000
• Cyber Liability: €2,000,000
• Certifications: Not specified for this tender.
• Past experience: Not specified for this tender.
• Personnel: Access to the following minimum skilled personnel:
• Contract / Account Manager: 1
• Implementation / Project Manager: 1
• Data Onboarding / Data Validation Specialist: 1
• Systems Integration / Technical Specialist: 1
• Training / User Adoption Lead: 1
• Customer Support / Service Desk Resource: 1
• Information Security / GDPR / Data Protection Resource: 1
• Geographic / facility constraints: Not specified for this tender.

5. Award criteria & scoring

Bids will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

The contract will be awarded to the lowest cost tender that meets all minimum requirements of the qualitative award criteria. There are no specified minimum scoring thresholds per criterion or overall.

6. Submission requirements

Bidders must submit the following documents:

• Method statement / response document: Use the provided Tender Response Document (TRD) template; no page limits specified.
• CVs: For key personnel, no specific page count mentioned.
• Pricing schedule: Must follow the specified format in the TRD.
• Case studies: Not specified for this tender.
• Declarations: Include ESPD, Bona Fides, Tax clearance, and Conflict of Interest declarations.
• Mandatory site visit: Not applicable.
• Submission portal: Tenders must be submitted via www.etenders.gov.ie only, following specific format rules.

7. Key dates & process

8. Contract terms that matter

Key contract terms include:

• Term + extension structure: Initial term of 5 years with the option to extend for 2 additional 12-month periods, subject to satisfactory performance.
• Payment terms: Not specified in detail.
• Key SLAs/KPIs: Not specified in detail.
• Liquidated damages: Not specified in detail.
• Termination clauses: The Council reserves the right to terminate the contract for reasons outside its control.
• IP ownership: Not specified in detail.
• Sub-contracting rules: Allowed, but the main contractor must demonstrate they have the necessary resources at their disposal.

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

Potential risks and concerns include:

• The turnover requirement of €300,000 may limit participation to established firms, potentially excluding smaller businesses.
• The requirement for a comprehensive integration with existing systems (iHouse and Agresso) may pose challenges for non-incumbent bidders.
• The contract's reliance on successful data validation before final award could lead to complications if the initial data test is unsuccessful, as the Council reserves the right to move to the next tenderer.

10. SME fit assessment

This tender is open to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that can demonstrate the necessary financial and technical capacity. Viable bidders should have experience in software implementation, data management, and customer support. Consortiums or subcontracting arrangements are permitted, allowing smaller firms to collaborate to meet requirements. Bid preparation may require several days of effort, particularly in assembling documentation and case studies. The incumbent's strength and familiarity with the Council's systems may provide a competitive advantage.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT filename: Request for Tender - Final.docx
• eTenders CFT ID: not specified
• Contact email or clarification portal: Queries via the messaging facility on www.etenders.gov.ie
• Important attachments: Appendix 1 – Contract Terms and Conditions, Tender Response Document (TRD)