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Scout RFP

User Guide for Applicant CompaniesCapability and Innovation Fund

Banking Competition Remedies Limited

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Contents

Welcome Slide 3

Application Guidance Slide 4 – 5

Accessing the Application Documents Slide 6

Registering on Scout RFP Slide 7 – 8

Agreeing to the Terms of Participation Slide 9

Navigating the homepage Slide 10

Changing the time zone Slide 11

Confirming the Applicant Company’s Intent to Respond Slide 12

Navigating the Application Documents Slide 13 – 16

Completing your application Slide 17

Submitting questions Slide 18

Message Centre Slide 19

Exporting and importing an application Slide 20

Completing an application in Excel Slide 21

Submitting an application Slide 22

Accessing Support Slide 23

Guidance on completing an application Slide 24

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Welcome

Dear Applicant Company,

Scout RFP is the online tool which Banking Competition Remedies Ltd are using to manage the submission of applications for the Capability and Innovation Fund for Pool A, B, C and D.

The tool is intuitive and easy to navigate. This user guide is intended to help Applicant Companies familiarise themselves with the tool ahead of the pool opening dates.

Applicant Companies are invited to register an account by sharing the full name and company email address of the employee you have nominated to manage your application and the pool(s) for which you deem your Applicant Company eligible and would like the opportunity to apply for. You will then receive a link to test event in order to familiarise yourself with the system. Access to the Application Documents will be available at 09:00 on the date of the pool opening.

This guide will sign-post where Applicant Companies can find additional support. In the event of technical questions, please use Scout’s online helpdesk or support team at support@scoutrfp.com.

Thanks,

The Capability and Innovation Evaluation Team

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Application Guidance (1/2)

The Applicant Company is expected to submit:

• A completed Application Form which contains:

• Applicant Company Information;

• Eligibility Criteria;

• Public Commitments; and

• Authorisation.

• A completed Business Case which contains, but is not limited to:

• Executive Summary;

• Current Position;

• Initiative Benefits;

• Financial Analysis;

• Implementation; and

• Governance.

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Application Guidance (2/2)

All Application Documents must be submitted via Scout RFP. This is a secure online portal, which the Independent Body will use to receive applications and communicate with Applicant Companies. Any applications submitted via other means will be rejected.

The first submission will be treated as final. Acceptance of resubmissions will be at the discretion of the Independent Body butwill only be granted in exceptional circumstances and it should be assumed these will not be accepted.

Applicant Bodies are advised that all responses must be in English.

Applicant Bodies are advised that the upload of any additional documents will not be permitted. Applicants must only attach requested documentation, any additional documents will be disregarded.

This guide will walk through the key functionality of Scout so you can familiarise yourself with the layout and functionality.

Further guidance on completing an application can be found within the Application Documents.

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Accessing the Application Documents

Instructions for accessing the Application Documents are available on the BCR website.

Applicant Companies will need to email the BCR mailbox (bcradmin@bcr-ltd.com) from 8th October stating the full name and company email address for the employee you have nominated to manage your application and the pool(s) for which you deem your Applicant Company eligible and would like to apply for. You will then receive a link to the Application Documents for your eligible pools at 09:00 on the date of the pool opening. The Independent Body strongly recommends that Applicant Companies complete a test application to familiarise themselves with the tool and the submission process.

Once you have set up an account, you will be able to access the test event, available from 8th October at 09:00 BST.

Register for Scout via the BCR website

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Registering on Scout RFP (1/2)

1. To create an account, the primary contact should enter their:

• Work Email;

• First Name; and

• Last Name.

2. The primary contact should set a password which meets the Scout password requirements

3. The primary contact may also enter additional optional information

4. The primary contact must accept the terms of service of Scout

5. Click “Next” to continue

Sign-up for a free Scout RFP account

The Applicant Company should designate a primary contact to register for a Scout account. The primary contact is responsible for completing and submitting the Application Documents. Once the primary contact has indicated their interest through the BCR mailbox, they will receive an invitation to register for a free account on behalf of the Applicant Company.

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Registering on Scout RFP (2/2)Finalize Scout account setup

6. To verify the email address provided, the primary contact should log into their mailbox and open the email from Scout

Applicant Companies should whitelist Scout’s support email address to avoid any correspondence going into their spam filter

NB If you do not receive this email shortly after registering, please contact support@scoutrfp.com

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7. Click on the green button “Finalize Your Account” to verify the email address to access your account and begin using Scout

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Agreeing to the Terms of ParticipationRead and accept the Terms of Participation

8. Applicant Companies must agree to the Terms of Participation before they can view the Application Documents. Applicant Companies that do not accept the terms will not be able to submit an application

The Terms of Participation are taken from the Capability & Innovation Fund Terms and Conditions

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Navigating the homepageNavigate the key features of the homepage

9. Click “Home” to navigate to the homepage at any time

10. Click “Support” to contact Scout and access the support centre

11. Access your user profile to change your settings and sign-out

12. View and complete your Application Documents

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Change the time zone from EST to GMT

Changing the time zone

13. Click “User Profile” under your username

14. Select the time zone from the drop-down list

NB The Independent Body strongly recommends that you set the time zone to: (GMT+00:00) London

15. Click “Save”

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Confirm intent to respond

Confirming the Applicant Company’s Intent to Respond

16. Click “I Intend to Submit” to confirm your intent to respond

NB There is no deadline for confirming intend to respond, it is an additional safeguard to prevent an early and/or incompletesubmission, however, selecting “I do not intent to submit” will lock the Applicant Company from accessing Application Documents

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Navigating the Application Documents (1/4) Read the guidelines on how to submit an application

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17. Select the Application from the homepage

18. Read the guidelines on how to submit an application, this includes:

• Background;

• Terms of Application;

• Application Guidance;

• Timeline for application;

• How to submit your application;

• How to submit queries; and

• Further information (useful links)

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Navigating the Application Documents (2/4) Read the guidelines on how to submit an application

19. Review the Terms of Participation (accepted before accessing the Application Documents)

20. Download the User Guide

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21. Access the Message Centre to submit questions and view responses to all questions

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Navigating the Application Documents (3/4) View the event timeline and invite team members to an application

22. View the two deadlines; the Question Deadline and the Submission Deadline

23. Invite team members to the online application

NB The Independent Body strongly recommends that this functionality is considered carefully, all invited team members will have administrative access which will enable them to edit, delete and submit an application

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Navigating the Application Documents (4/4) View the event timeline and invite team members to an application

24. Access the Application Form and Business Case

25. View progress (percent complete)

26. No attachments should be added in the “Additional Documents” box, any files attached here will be disregarded

27. No information should be added in the “Details” box, any text written here will be disregarded

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28. Click on the section heading to access the Application Form or the Business Case

Completing your applicationView the event timeline and invite team members to an application

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29. Navigate between the event home page, and the Application Form and Business Case

30. Read the guidance notes for each section

31. Enter your response, noting the response type (140 characters, long answer, multiple choice and file attachment) and the *symbol for required answers

NB There is no word count in Scout, Applicant Companies must ensure their answers are within the stated word count

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Submitting questions Submit questions and view responses via the Scout Message Centre

32. Draft a new message to the BCR team in the message centre

33. Click the “Send Question” button to send the question

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Message CentreView answered / unanswered questions

34. View responses to your questions

NB Information contained within questions which identifies who asked the question will be anonymised with only the original text visible to the original Applicant Company who raised the question

35. View questions and responses from other applicants (the original question text, who asked and date will not be visible)

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Exporting and importing an applicationExport and import the Application Documents to and from Excel

36. Export the Application Documents to Excel

37. Import the Application Documents from Excel

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38. Select the file you wish to import (it must be the Excel template, no other file formats are accepted)

39. Confirm the import, the Excel import will over-write all existing answers

40. View the response once the file has successfully been imported

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Completing an application in ExcelWork on the Application Documents offline

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41. Read the “Instructions” tab for further details about filling out an application in Excel

The other tabs are:

• Message Centre – a copy of the questions and answers at the time of the extract

• Questionnaire – a copy of the Application Documents

• Bid Details – not relevant

• Extra Data – supplementary information, e.g. the last login

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42. Edit the Application Documents in the “Questionnaire” tab of your Excel

Follow the guidelines:

• Only enter text in blue cells

• Do not write text elsewhere

• Do not add / delete any cells

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Submitting an applicationSubmit the completed application

43. Preview the application at any time using the “Preview” button

44. Save the application at any time using the “save” button

45. Click the blue “Submit” button to submit the final application – note the first submission is final

NB Please note pressing “Submit” will automatically submit your application. To view your Application Documents before final submission, use the “Preview” button

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Accessing Support

In addition to this User Guide the Scout team offers a wealth of technical support

46. Click “Walk Me Through It” at the top of every section for a pop-up with quick tips

47. Click “Support” at the top of the page to access the Knowledge Base Scout and search the help library

48. Click “Support” at the top of the page to Contact Scout and send an instant message (please be aware Scout’s standardSupport hours is from 14:00-22:00 GMT time, however, all queries raised in the morning should be resolved by the end of the business day)

NB Scout only offers support with technical questions, for any questions related to the application use the Message Centre

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Technical support from the Scout team

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Guidance on completing an application

General Guidance

All responses must be in English

The Scout tool does not limit the word count, therefore Applicant Companies are responsible for ensuring their answers are within the stated word count limit – any text above the word count will be disregarded

When copying text from a document into the Scout tool, the bullets and spacing are maintained, however, text formatting (bold, italicised and underline) is not

Questions marked with a * are mandatory, an application cannot be submitted until all mandatory questions have been answered

The “Intent to Respond” RSVP does not have a deadline. It is intended to prevent Applicant Companies from submitting an early and/or incomplete application, however, if you click “Do not intend to respond” then all access to the Application Documents will be removed and you will not be able to submit an application through that account

Guidance on Attachments

Text contained in all attachments must be a minimum of size 10 font

Attachments with embedded files are not permitted

Attachments with macros are not permitted

Attachments should not be password protected

No additional attachments should be uploaded. Applicants must only attach documentation where requested, any additional documents will be disregarded

These are some general hints and tips to ensure Applicant Companies meet the guidelines for completing an application

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