Northamptonshire County Council Joint Venture for Project Citrus

Northamptonshire County Council (the “Authority”) wishes to invite Potential Providers to express an interest in entering into a Joint Venture (JV) with Northamptonshire County Council for the provision of a portal. The Authority wishes to appoint the Provider as a Joint Venture Partner, in order that it may provide the portal.

This portal will have three key functions:

Information – factual, up to date information provided to meet a person’s adult social care and well-being needs, regardless of where they live in the country.

Advice – suggestion, in the form of self-assessment tools or articles, which support an individual person, family or carer to make informed decisions about the help and support an individual may require now and in the future.

E-marketplace – a fully transactional market place for services and products that any one can use to meet their needs, whether they are funding themselves, funding someone they care about, funded by the LA via a Direct Payment, a virtual budget, a Pre Paid Card or a managed service sourced via Adult Social Care staff.

This Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) is expected to be open ended with a minimum commitment of five (5) years.

It shall be a condition of the JVA that the Partners shall deliver the portal through a joint venture vehicle owned by both Partners.

The portal shall be delivered through a special purpose vehicle joint venture company (JVCO). JVCO will be a private company limited by shares for profit. JVCO will own the portal. The relationship between the Partners within the JVCO shall be governed by a Joint Venture Shareholders Agreement (JVSA) following the incorporation of JVCO.

Within the JVCO the Partners are expected to develop their business relationship that uses and builds on each party’s core strengths and expertise for mutual benefit, ensures the delivery of a solution that is ‘best in class’ and has the potential to be market leading.

Once the portal is developed, the Authority will be a customer in its own right and purchase the portal at the rate agreed with the JV Vehicle. The contract for this service will be five (5) years with an option to extend for another five (5) years.

It is also intended that the other agencies and authorities within the County of Northamptonshire shall have access to the portal for which the JVCO will charge as it sees fit in the circumstances.

In terms of investment requirements, it is envisaged that the JV will be able to monetise the portal through a variety of income streams. To unlock these, it is envisaged that the operating costs of the joint venture will be in the order of £12m across its first five years of operation, including investment in new systems. The expectation of the joint venture partner is for a level of 60/40, (60 Provider – 40 the Authority). The Provider will be required to evidence their commercial model to fund the financial requirement.

The business model for the Joint Venture shall forecast the income and expenditure for the first five years of operation. It is anticipated that an estimated amount of £1 million (one million pounds) per Partner would need to be drawn down in year one of the Joint Venture.

It is likely that the Joint Venture Vehicle would be up and running from autumn 2016. Further financial considerations and financial governance will be determined by the Joint Venture Vehicle’s constitution and any agreements between the Shareholders going forward.