Credit: Mike Egerton/PA Archive/PA Images

Lincolnshire County Council is to create an online directory bringing together information on care and support services.

The authority has published a contract notice seeking suppliers across two lots. The first of these includes the creation and maintenance of the digital resource, while the second covers the provision of email, web chat, and telephone support to citizens. 

“The purpose of the Library of Information and Services (LIS) is to support residents, service users, their families, and carers to understand how care and support services work locally, the range of options available, and how they can access care and support services,” the council said.

As well as advice and information on what care and support services are available, the site should contain a search function allowing citizens to filter and sort local service providers. 

The council also requires that the site is optimised for desktop, laptop, tablet, and mobile devices, and is compatible with all web browsers that have had a market share of at least 1% over the preceding year. At present, this would include Opera, Samsung Internet, Android, Edge, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and Chrome.

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The council indicated that the library should also “support mobile working, including the ability to work offline with data being synced back to a central repository at a later point once connectivity is established” via either WiFi, a wired connection, or mobile data.

The remote support covered by the second lot should cover the whole of Lincolnshire, and must encompass live online chat, and support by telephone and email, the contract notice said.

“The remote support will complete searches of the LIS website on behalf of the service user, and will ensure the search results are sent to the service user in the requested format,” it added. “If the service user requires a hard copy of the information to be posted, the cost of printing and envelopes will be the responsibility of the provider. The cost of postage will be reimbursed on a monthly basis through invoices sent to Lincolnshire County Council.”

Bids for the two lots are open until 15 June, ahead of a scheduled contract-award date of 9 July. The council plans to sign a three-year deal worth a cumulative £280,000.