Valuation Tribunal Service - Volunteer recruitment comms support

The Valuation Tribunal Service (VTS) is an arm's length body sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). We are responsible for administering the Valuation Tribunal for England (VTE). The Valuation Tribunal for England hears and determines disputes that are made by ratepayers and/or council tax payers because they are challenging decisions taken by the local council or the Valuation Office on their council tax or business rates. It is constituted of three Vice Presidents (one of whom is currently discharging the functions of the Tribunal President whilst recruitment to this role is ongoing), 141 Senior Members (who chair Tribunal panels) and 39 ordinary Members (who complete panels of 2-3 overall). The Senior Member and Member positions are all voluntary, and there is no requirement to be legally trained or hold any other professional qualification. Support we are looking for: In February 2027 (dates tbc), the JAC will be launching a new recruitment exercise for VTE Senior Members and Members, where we anticipate looking to recruit a new intake of 150 individuals. An online pre-application seminar for prospective applicants will likely be held in mid-January (hosted by the JAC). We do not believe that the existing marketing approach of the JAC will attract sufficient applicants, nor a diverse profile of professional backgrounds beyond lawyers. We also know that overall volunteering levels across England are below pre-Covid levels and generally stagnant. We are seeking costed proposals to cover the following phases of work: Phase 1: Developing and implement a VTS marketing approach (and supporting materials) for the February 2027 recruitment exercise (to complement that of the JAC) to drive increased applications from a broader diversity of professional backgrounds and individuals interested in volunteering. Deliverables to include: • Small amount of insight (talking to small number of existing members and senior staff) • Design development (brand identity for the campaign) • Develop campaign materials (purpose and case study-based; digital assets including content for website, social media, and including both written/brochure; social media templates; videos and clips). • Advice on social media channels and support on establishing and building those channels, and implementing campaign through those channels. • Communications plan and delivery (with a particular focus on the target groups outlined below in section 5). • Establish measures against which we can measure impact and success, to inform future activities. Capture learning from impact of this approach to inform our future Member recruitment activities. • Build staff capability. We would want and expect materials to be accessible to all users (and meet minimum Government standards on this). Proposed delivery milestones (subject to agreement): • Comms plan - Mid-November • Case study/marketing materials - end of November/early December • Website/social media changes or additions - early December • Wider marketing activity - December/January 2027 • Impact measurement/capability handover - March 2027 Desired outcome: An uplift in applications to the February 2027 campaign from non-legal applicants. Phase 2: Evaluation of this marketing approach, with recommendations about how the VTS could best approach its future marketing activities for volunteer recruitment. We recognise that the limited work of Phase 1 may ask questions of our broader organisational comms approach, and recommendations in this regard would be welcomed. Proposed delivery milestones (subject to agreement): • Lessons learned/future recommendations report - March 2027 • Recommendations of overall future organisational comms approach - March 2027