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Invitation for expressions of interest to deliver The Growth Fund from February 2008 to March 2011

24 November 2008

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) now manages nearly 100 contracts across GB for delivery of the Growth Fund (GF). The GF is purpose designed to invest capital in the provision of affordable loans to people on low incomes in deprived areas through third sector institutions.

During 2006/08 Government invested £42m in the GF project, and because the service was successful it allocated a further £38 million to expand delivery in 2008/11. To help focus delivery where there is the greatest need DWP and the Treasury asked Experian to show where the greatest gaps exist between consumer demand for affordable credit, and supply. Their work became known as the ‘red and amber alert maps’ which you can find on the Government’s Financial Inclusion Taskforce website.

During the first half of 2008 new contracts were put in place to provide GF service in the following areas from those maps:

Wansbeck
Blyth Valley
Telford & Wrekin
St. Helens
The Wirral
Chesterfield
Bolsover
N. E. Derbyshire
N. E. Lincolnshire
Stockton on Tees
Redcar & Cleveland
Crawley
Scarborough
Tamworth
Southampton
Manchester

We are now advertising again to procure service coverage for the next stage of our plans in:

England
Blackpool and W Lancashire
Middlesbrough
Sefton (Merseyside)
Wear Valley
Wolverhampton

Scotland
Aberdeen
Clackmannanshire
Dundee City
Fife
Inverclyde
North Lanarkshire
South Ayrshire.

In this procurement exercise we will consider expressions of interest (EOIs) from organisations new to GF able to deliver in individual areas, or from larger organisations with a GF track record capable of delivering across several areas through a range of sub contracted customer outlets such as credit unions, housing offices etc.

Eligibility

All the previous eligibility conditions will continue to apply. So eligible organisations must either be regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), or constituted as not for profit third sector organisations, licensed by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to provide credit services.  

Organisations must have an average annual turnover (before tax) of less than EUR€100 million during the last two financial years. And DWP may not contract with any of the above unless they are registered under the Data Protection Act (you must already have, or be willing to name, DWP or Central Government as a Data Processor).

Instructions for completion

If you are an eligible lender and wish to be considered please complete the pre-qualification questionnaire. Please note there are two versions of the questionnaire. If you are an existing GF provider please complete Growth Fund PQQ V1 (62KB) word. If you do not currently have a DWP contract for the delivery of the Growth Fund you must complete Growth Fund PQQ V2 (92KB) word.

Completed documents should be sent hard copy and by e-mail, to Barbara Elliott at the address below. If you do not currently hold a GF contract, you must also enclose a copy of the audited accounts for your organisation for the last two complete financial years. New organisations which do not yet have two full accounting years to report may contact Barbara Elliot, see contact details below, to discuss.

Please note that all EOIs must be received at the DWP address by close of business on 12 December 2008. And organisations who submit a successful EOI will be notified before Christmas, and be provided with the necessary documents to submit a full bid by 16 January 2009.

Based on lots of previous experience, we will make the bid documents as simple and straightforward as possible.

Supplier Selection

The objective of the selection process is to assess the responses to the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and select potential suppliers to proceed to the next stage of the procurement.

Selection criteria will be a combination of both financial and non-financial factors and will consider:

Supplier Acceptability – in relation to the Authority’s definition of an eligible lender.

Economic and Financial Standing – the supplier must be in a sound financial position to participate in a procurement of this size. Organisations must demonstrate experience, competency and capacity to effectively deliver a loan book in excess of £200,000. This may entail independent financial checks.

Technical or Professional Ability – the supplier must be able to demonstrate that they meet any minimum standards of technical or professional ability required of them by the Authority, including relevant experience in instant capacity based lending.

Postcodes identified must be consistent with the Authority’s target locations.
 
Failure to provide a satisfactory response to any of the questions may result in the Authority not proceeding further with the supplier. The information supplied will be checked for completeness and compliance before responses are evaluated.

Timetable

Deadline for receipt of EOI – 12 December 2008
Invitation to Tender issued by – 19 December 2008
Deadline for receipt of proposals – 16 January 2009
Evaluation of proposals – 19 January 2009 – 30 January 2009
Contract commencement – February 2009

Address for responses

Barbara Elliott
Room M0074G
Durham House
Washington
Tyne and Wear
NE38 7SD

E-mailed responses should be sent to:
NEWCASTLE.THEGROWTHFUND@DWP.GSI.GOV.UK

Please clearly state Growth Fund – Expression of Interest in the subject field.

Queries about the procurement

The Authority will not enter into detailed discussion of the requirements at this stage. Any questions you may have should be submitted by letter or e-mail to the contact stated above.

If e-mailing a query please clearly state Growth Fund  – Query in the subject field.

If the Authority considers any question or request for clarification to be of material significance, both the query and the response will be communicated, in a suitably anonymous form, to all suppliers who have responded.

All responses received and any communication from suppliers will be treated in confidence except in pursuance of the Authority’s obligations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Launch of Financial Inclusion Champions

23 October 2008

The £12million Champions initiative to help people suffering from financial exclusion was launched on Tuesday 21 October 2008 by Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Minister, Kitty Ussher.

Organisations appointed so far are:

The campaign will build on the existing “now lets talk money” campaign, and will work with local authorities, social landlords and other key partners to make sure people have access to basic financial services, such as safe saving, bank accounts, money advice, home contents insurance and affordable credit.

Champions will not only signpost people to existing financial services but will also work in partnership to develop new services in areas where people do not have access to the services others take for granted.

Launching the campaign at the financial inclusion Taskforce Conference 2008, Kitty Ussher, said:

“The Government is committed to helping the poorest members of our society gain access to services, such as basic bank accounts, safe saving, home contents insurance and affordable loans that will put their finances on a more secure footing.

“It is vital that we work with organisations who come into daily contact with some of the people we want to reach so are well placed to provide the advice, support and services people need to improve their financial situation.”

Regional Financial Inclusion Champion teams are being rolled out throughout the rest of the Great Britain, with teams expected to be in place by January 2009.

Definition of Low Income – revised figures

12 June 2008

We have increased the amounts used to define low income by 5%. Please use the following figures from today:

Income levels shown on the list are made up of all net income received into a household, including all earned income, benefit income and tax credits, but excluding:

These figures are indicative, and should not be applied rigidly. Income is not the sole factor to take into account. We recognise that there may be some applicants with household incomes that vary from these amounts who are still readily identifiable as financially excluded. It may be appropriate to approve a loan from your Growth Fund capital for them. Use the list as a prime indicator of whether or not an applicant may qualify for a loan.

Loans made to cases where income is above these rates should be the exception rather than the norm, and you will need to provide a well documented explanation to support the decision.

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