The provision of an online family history service for wales

The contract is scheduled to commence on April 1, 2027. The initial term is for one year, concluding on March 31, 2028. Following this, the contract includes provisions for automatic renewal for three subsequent one-year terms, with the option for up to two additional one-year renewal terms.

Key milestones in the tender process leading up to the contract include:

• Tender Document completion and sign-off: Thursday, July 30, 2026.
• FTS Contract Notice issued: Thursday, July 30, 2026.
• Deadline for requests for further information/guidance: Wednesday, September 2, 2026.
• Deadline for receipt of tender responses (12:00 noon): Tuesday, September 22, 2026.
• Evaluation of compliant tender responses: Thursday, September 24, 2026.
• A trial period for test sites will occur between Thursday, September 24, 2026, and Monday, September 28, 2026.
• Selection of the successful tenderer and notification of results of evaluation: Monday, September 28, 2026.
• Expiry of standstill period: Wednesday, December 9, 2026.
• Finalisation of contract: Thursday, December 10, 2026.
• Service available: Thursday, April 1, 2027.

The core scope of work for this tender involves the "Procurement of Family History Service for Wales". The services entail providing a secure, enterprise-grade web platform that offers unlimited concurrent access to family history resources across all supported desktop and mobile devices and browsers, accessible via authorized institutional WiFi networks.

Key deliverables and requirements include:

• Ensuring full compliance with the Public Sector Bodies (Websites and Mobile Applications) Accessibility Regulations 2018, achieving WCAG 2.2 AA conformance.
• Providing controlled onsite access through IP-based restriction.
• Delivering a fully managed and seamless transition from the incumbent supplier to the successful tenderer, ensuring continuity of service and data integrity.
• Maintaining 24-hour service availability, supported by a minimum of 80% uptime, evidenced through demonstrable performance data and underpinned by resilient hosting architecture with automated failover for planned and unplanned downtime.
• Providing clear onsite and email notifications one week in advance for scheduled downtime and immediately for any service interruption not mitigated by failover systems.