Procuring Technology for Housing Services

Background

This is a Local Digital Funded project to investigate how to achieve better value from the technology used in housing services. The 12-week discovery project, led by Hackney Council, Woking, Redbridge, Greenwich, Kingston & Sutton and Adur & Worthing, will explore the procurement of technology systems for housing services to identify opportunities to ensure technology meets the needs of Local Authorities and residents. 

Overview

DLUHC Local Digital Fund successfully awarded £100,000 for this discovery exploring how to achieve better value from the technology used in housing services. 

Getting better value from technology requires that technology must be an enabler to housing services through meeting the needs of residents and our organisations. This means:

• Technology that is user focused and accessible, for both staff and residents

• Technology that enables interoperability of systems and data so that Local Authorities have a clear and consistent picture of their residents and assets

• Flexibility to easily exercise choice, to change suppliers and to innovate to provide better outcomes for residents

We are focused on technology because technology can act as either an enabler or a blocker - aiding or limiting the ability of the housing service to meet resident needs. This will not solve all challenges faced by housing services or change processes or ways of working, but is an area that has significant underlying influence across all aspects of housing.

We’ll explore the procurement phase of implementing technology systems for housing services. This includes tender specifications, procurement processes, decision making, and contract negotiations.

Outcomes

During this discovery we are primarily focused on early-stage problem exploration and hypothesis development. 

As much as possible, our outputs will be pulled together as assets which can be shared with local authorities and suppliers as a basis for further work. 

The target outcomes for this project will be:

• An engaged community of partner Local Authorities around the work, motivated to develop a collective voice and shared understanding of where we are now

• Engagement from technology suppliers, listening and participating in conversations around current and future needs of local authorities around housing systems, as well as a better understanding of supplier ways of working, user engagement and product strategy

• Documented research outputs which can be shared and are ready to be progressed further or used by local authorities as is to support their procurement processes

Approach

We will look at how user needs and system requirements are initially captured, and explore common needs across Local Authorities. 

We’ll examine existing regulatory requirements and data standards and look at how these factor into tender specifications. This will enable us to prepare a solid foundation for requirements for a housing management system.

Through reviewing current procurement practices, we’ll identify opportunities to help local authorities improve how they work with technology providers, and outline what good procurement looks like.

We will examine how products are evaluated and criteria for decision making to suggest how to ensure procured systems meet the needs of residents and organisations. 

We’ll work with local authorities to review contract negotiation, explore options for collective procurement, and look at how buying power can be exercised more effectively to ensure desired outcomes are achieved.

We will be looking for other councils who wish to participate in the research - we want to ensure a broad sample of local authorities from across the UK, rural and metropolitan areas, with different demographics and needs. 

Who will benefit?

• Residents including some of the most vulnerable families

• Local Authorities getting better value, choice and service from suppliers, and reduced resourcing due to better integration and common standards.

• Housing Technology providers who will be able to participate in clearer and more efficient procurement through set standards

Who will deliver this?

Hackney Council as lead, support from Woking Council, Redbridge Council, Greenwich Council, Adur and Worthing Council, Kingston and Sutton Council

TPX Impact as the agency procured to deliver the work

The programme

Other Local Digital Round 6 funded projects

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