Pipeline Framework: BIG001-1038 – Independent Complaint Reviewer

A pipeline has been launched for BIG001-1038 – Independent Complaint Reviewer.The contract start Date is 01 November 2019. Approach to market date is 13 June 2019.This is a Prior Information Notice (PIN) only: publication and call for competition will be conducted once scope of work is fully defined and approved.OpportunityThe customer complaints process for The National Lottery Community Fund involves a three stage process. Stages 1 and 2 of the process are internal reviews and stage 3 is an independent review. Beyond the independent review the customer may approach the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO).The service being procured is for the independent stage. Six other lottery distributors are also signed up to this process and would be signatories to the contract. The additional distributors are Arts Council England, Arts Council Wales, British Film Institute, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Sport England and UK Sport. The Lottery Forum have asked that this procurement occurs.The service required is for an independent complaints reviewer to consider and provide an expert view on the complaint submitted. This would be to review whether the relevant distributor followed process, whether the processes were fair and if the distributor has acted in a discriminatory manner.The independent reviewer would liaise with both the distributor and also the customer to collect information and views. Agreement with both parties on a terms of reference would be achieved. The independent reviewer would then take their own deliberations and produce a report for both the lottery distributor and customer on their findings.The independent reviewer can make non-binding recommendations to the relevant distributor to improve processes or practices. They would not be able to make judgement on whether funding decisions were correct as this is a discretionary power of the distributor.We are unable to predict how many complaints would reach the independent review stage, therefore contract value may vary based on more or less complaints.This is a potential opportunity from the government, and the pipeline gives advance notice of an opportunity that might be offered by the public sector in the future – allowing potential suppliers to plan accordingly. When a public sector organisation publishes a pipeline notice, it does not necessarily mean that an opportunity will be offered in the future.For more information contact: The National Lottery Community Fund, 1 Plough Place, London EC4A 1DE. Email: procurement@tnlcommunityfund.org.uk