Imosphere Ltd

Formulate for SEND

Formulate for SEND is a needs-based education banding tool which helps local authorities to manage top-up funding allocations for young people with special educational needs in an equitable way that is mindful of budgetary pressures. Formulate not only ensures fairness today but also equips LAs to forecast for future needs.

Features

• Cloud-based software platform to complete forms/calculations
• Real-time estimated top-up funding calculations across multiple education settings
• Clear and concise form questions to drive the calculation
• Allocation Summary output accompanying estimated funding (including Funding Band)
• Quality Assurance output to help ensure accuracy of data
• Self-service analytics dashboards and data export facility for additional analysis
• Full data audit of every form and every calculation
• Remote updates to algorithm configuration as things change
• Inclusive benchmarking service for comparison to other LAs
• Specialist support with configuration and implementation

Benefits

• Monitor and control local SEND budget using customisable band levels
• One tool for all young people (adapts to individual needs)
• Reduce inequity (allocate similar funding for individuals with similar needs)
• Base funding on individuals’ identified needs, ensuring optimal support
• Make evidence-based decisions (and spend less time negotiating with schools)
• Learn from what’s worked elsewhere (compare configuration with other LAs)
• Improve quality of EHC Plans (as EHCP information 'feeds' Formulate)
• Measure change in need over time and forecast future need
• Be data driven (includes updates to keep data quality high)
• Be well prepared for a future national framework

£46,600 an instance

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at oliver.brown@imosphere.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

473672088191195

Contact

Oliver Brown
0800 802 1884
oliver.brown@imosphere.co.uk

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: There is a brief monthly maintenance window for the software timed to be outside of UK core office hours.
• System requirements: Software licences per cohort (e.g. special schools) are organisation-wide

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: We will acknowledge customer support queries within one working hour. We aim to respond to queries within one working day. More complex questions may take longer.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: During the implementation period, as part of the standard SLA we provide regular virtual calls to facilitate configuration decisions, software implementation, and system testing before go-live, as well as 9-5 email and phone support provided by our consultancy team (including product and system experts).; ; We supply training videos and e-learning quizzes to support a successful implementation - as well as providing training workshops for nominated 'superusers' as an optional extra.; ; After implementation, and for the lifetime of the contract, we provide a standard package of support which includes 9-5 email and phone support provided by our consultancy team, as well as a number of consultancy days to cover algorithm updates and remote 'health check' activities.; ; Additional time outside of the standard SLA can be purchased at an additional cost.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: We recommend planning user familiarisation activities early on because supporting people to have the knowledge they require about a change increases the chances of internal adoption.; ; We offer a suite of training videos accompanied by e-learning quizzes and these are recommended alongside internal training about changes to processes. We also offer a 'superuser' training workshop where we explain how to use the tool and algorithm outputs, their benefits, and the importance of accurate completion - enabling nominated superusers to provide support to end users.; ; Additionally, we provide extensive training materials and product documentation.; ; In respect of ‘go live’, as part of our package for 'superusers', we facilitate further remote workshops to help answer queries coming through from practitioners as they begin to put their first cases through the system – providing guidance and assurance at this key stage.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: The input and output data involved in calculating funding bands and estimated funding amounts is extracted and returned in CSV format. CSV data is one of the most widely accepted and portable data formats.
• End-of-contract process: Having agreed the end point of the contract, allowing time for export of the data required, we would disable all access to the relevant system(s) and securely destroy data held on our systems in line with our data sanitisation processes. Any user accounts and related information would also be destroyed. We retain financial information regarding our relationship for the period required by HMRC. The above is included in the price of the contract. ; ; Additional data export services and migration consultancy are available at an additional cost.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Chrome
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: Where used on a mobile device, assuming the device can access the service with respect to network and firewalls, the system allows for core data and features to be accessed. This may differ in presentation/appearance compared to the desktop view to accommodate differences in screen sizes and available visual space.
• Service interface: No
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: The following can be customised in the system:; ; (1) The annual top-up funding allocation associated to each of the 'Education Bands' that can be calculated from Formulate (an allocation can be configured for each of Bands 1 through to 10 - as well as the option to choose a more nuanced configuration by utilising mid-point bands as well if preferred). This is facilitated by the local authority completing a local ‘Formulate Configuration template’ (the key deliverable(s) for the local authority). This process and the expertise we offer in supporting it are essential in ensuring fair, sufficient and financially sustainable top-up funding allocations – and providing a clear record of all decisions. Once the document has been completed (involving senior representatives from finance, commissioning and front-line practice), the decisions are applied by Imosphere to the algorithm; ; (2) Deciding whether the data entered into the system is associated to the organisation (local authority) as a whole or divided up by locally-defined 'Service Areas' (e.g. localities) for viewing and reporting purposes.; ; (3) Key terms which appear within the software can be locally overridden with alternative terms (e.g. the term for 'service user' could be changed to 'young person' or 'pupil').

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The enterprise server dealing with calculation requests is heavily resourced. The logical tenanting structure of the algorithm setup ensures that concurrent requests from distinct organisations are processed independently. The majority of activity on the server involves reading from the database with very few write requests, keeping the likelihood of disruptive locks extremely low.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Nominated local authority representatives are provided with access to 'Data Explorer' within our Formulate Portal cloud-based platform. This includes:; ; - Insights: A set of pre-designed 'dashboards' showing key statistics about the organisation's use of the system with customisable time periods, including numbers of calculation per user, forms with large numbers of calculations, and the spread of Education Bands per setting.; ; - Extracts: Enables them to generate their own CSV exports of the input and output data involved in their estimated funding calculations via Formulate. This will show numbers of cases submitted through the system together with dates and times.
• Reporting types: Real-time dashboards

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations:
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Managed by a third party
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
  • Encryption of all physical media
  • Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type:
  • Explicit overwriting of storage before reallocation
  • Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: A third-party destruction service

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Imosphere provides the facility for local authorities to generate data exports of the input and output data involved in their calculations made via Formulate in CSV format.
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats: N/a

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks:
  • Private network or public sector network
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network: TLS (version 1.2 or above)

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: For customers calculating via the Formulate web service, the service is intended to be available continuously except for periods of maintenance or upgrades. Any maintenance or scheduled tasks are triggered out of regular working hours, from 7pm. Support will be available during core working hours. ; ; In the event of service availability falling below our KPI minimum percentage standard of 99.9% during 24x7 hours, 4% of annual licence costs will be credited. Availability performance of the Live systems over the past year has been 99.95% over 24x7 hours.; ; For customers calculating via an internal script or similar solution within their local system(s), service availability is not applicable.
• Approach to resilience: Information is available on request.
• Outage reporting: Outage reports and notifications of planned work that may affect services are available via a public dashboard. Detailed information, including where individual customers may be affected, is provided via email alerts.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: For customers calculating via the Formulate web service, restricted access is not relevant as this is automated integration between a local system and the web service, rather than a front-end system.; ; For customers calculating via an internal script or similar solution within their local system(s), this is also not relevant.; ; For customers using our cloud-hosted software system, only users assigned Administrator permissions can access management interfaces.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication: Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: LRQA
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 22/01/2013
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: All operations of the business are within scope.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Our Information Security Management System is an integrated framework of policies and procedures developed in compliance with ISO 27001 and includes, amongst others: employee screening & training, record classification and retention, information risk and opportunity management, data protection impact analysis, change management, incident management, business continuity, relationships with suppliers and third parties, network & access control, cryptographic controls, pseudonymisation and de-identification, and physical security.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: Documented and independently audited configuration and change management process.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: Patches are deployed on a monthly scheduled basis following testing in a lab environment. Critical patches are deployed following our emergency change process. Multiple sources are used for information: independent security organisations (i.e. BugTraq, Full Disclosure), vendors, government (e.g. NCSC, NIST), published information from security organisations and professionals and security conferences.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: We monitor activity at the firewall and internal detection systems based on log monitoring.
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: Our incident management process is based on the ITIL approach and includes consideration of prioritisation, proportionate response, monitoring, escalation and retrospective review. All employees are trained on the incident reporting and management approach. Senior management monitor issues in aggregate and on specific escalated issues, including performance against internal and external SLA standards.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  Wellbeing

  Wellbeing

  The Formulate product is able to support wellbeing by identifying the needs of the individual and establishing a fair funding band and estimated funding amounts to have these needs met and improve their wellbeing.

Pricing

• Price: £46,600 an instance
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at oliver.brown@imosphere.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.