Domestic Energy Efficiency Delivery Partner Framework

The council is aiming to deliver domestic energy services to all households in Portsmouth and surrounding area in order to mitigate fuel poverty, reduce energy and carbon use and develop and strengthen a local low-carbon supply chain. This includes the development and enhancement of existing schemes and funding; as well as identifying future opportunities, appropriate service and delivery of projects. Further details related to the provision of energy support via the Switched On Portsmouth service is available at the below links: • www.switchedonportsmouth.co.uk • Portsmouth City Council's Energy at Home Strategy 2020-25 (March, 2020) https://democracy.portsmouth.gov.uk/documents/s26302/Energy and Water at Home Strategy report with appendices.pdf • Portsmouth City Council's Home Energy Support Service (January, 2021) Home Energy Support Service progress update from October.pdf (portsmouth.gov.uk) In order to realise this ambition, the council wishes to appoint a primary provider with whom they can work in the long term to strengthen the Switched On Portsmouth services, bring in additional resource and provide innovation and opportunities relevant to the council's domestic objectives. The council currently offers (or has recently offered) a number of schemes, both capital projects and support services that will be included within the scope of this framework: • Capital schemes and values: Warm Homes Funding (£7.4m), LAD 1A (£3.1m), LAD 1B (£14.8m) and Sustainable Warmth (£31.9m) • Services and funding: Energy Redress Funding, Freephone advice line, home energy support visits, income maximisation services, small energy efficiency measures and broken boiler scheme. The LAD 1A/B projects, currently, are the most successful projects under this funding stream; both in terms of spend and numbers of households having received a measure. The council will work with the primary provider to help to further develop its reputation for delivery with BEIS and other funders. This framework will allow the council to build upon their work to date and standing with the partner authorities within the Portsmouth-led Warmer Homes Consortium. The primary provider will be a partner that coordinates a list of approved local installers to carry out retrofits associated with grant funding. There will be no requirement for the provider to act as the Principal Contractor. Social value, particularly a commitment to create local jobs in energy retrofit, is an important objective of the council. The council require that providers are installer neutral and provide no barriers to local SMEs and residents selecting which installer they would like to carry out works. Providers must also be open to using existing service providers and contractors which participating contracting authorities have compliant arrangements in place with. The scope of core service activities that the framework may be used to commission providers to undertake can be summarised as: Core Services: - Funding and Service Development - Customer Capture and support - Working with contractors - Delivery management - Social Value The council is not primarily seeking an installer, but rather a service provider with experience of working in the domestic energy efficiency sector; with a particular focus on project delivery of grant-funded schemes. Additional information: Whilst the framework agreement will provide an option for the council to directly enter into contracts for energy efficiency works, the significant majority of works arising from this procurement will be in respect of energy efficiency measures delivered directly to private sector residents, who as recipients of grant funding, will be able enter into contract directly with a suitably qualified installation contractor of their choice. It is the council's position that such private sector works as described above do not fall under the scope of public works as defined within the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) and whilst providers will be able to nominate themselves or other contractors as potential sourcing options to private sector grant recipients for the delivery of works no binding contractual exclusivity will be created. Where the council, or any of the other current or future Warmer Homes Consortium contracting authority members, contract directly for works this will likely be via existing compliantly procured contracts and / or framework agreements which the contracting authorities are already party to or are able to compliantly access. However, there may be occasion where the providers appointed via this procurement process may be called upon to establish new compliantly procured contracts, framework agreements or dynamic purchasing systems through which related works which fall under the scope of public works as defined within the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) may be sourced. Similarly, contracting authorities may also opt to source related public works via any suitable existing sourcing routes which providers may be able to offer and the contracting authorities are able to compliantly access.