PROCEDURE FOR PROCURING CONSULTANTS

1.Authorisation for the procurement of a Consultant

1.1Before any tenders or quotations are sought for the appointment of a consultant the Procuring Officer must identify the need for specialist advice or support for a specific work activity, as shown on Appendix A - Check List and Flow Chart.

1.2The Procuring Officer must then carry out an assessment of in-house capacity and skills available against a statement of services required and brief. This assessment should be carried out in consultation with all Directorates and Sections.

1.3If the capacity is available in-house or temporary recruitment of an appropriate person to work with the in-house team is appropriate, then the Human Resources Team should be consulted.

1.4If the activity cannot be undertaken in-house and external support is required, it is necessary for the Procuring Officer to complete a‘Justification of NeedForm’ in accordance with SCH Standing Orders and procurement procedures, and seek the approval of the appropriate authorised delegated officer.

1.5TheProcuring Officer must send a copy of the approved ‘Justification of Need’ Form to the Procurement Team and obtain a Contract Register reference number before seeking tenders or quotations.

1.6If the Procuring Officer considers that the appointment of a suitable consultant can only be best obtained from one source without seeking tenders or quotations then an ‘Exception to the Rules for Contracts’ Form must be completed and approved by the appropriate authorised delegated Officer.

1.7At this stage the procuring officer is advised to contact the Procurement Team to seek advice regarding any possible negotiation of contract, potential aggregation of spend, availability of other corporate contracts, etc.

2.Obtaining Tenders or Quotations

2.1Following receipt of approval of the ‘Justification of Need’ the procuring officer needs to prepare a specification or statement of services brief detailing the services required. This will ensure that all prices received will be for the same ‘like for like’ services and an accurate comparison and evaluation can be made.

2.2The procuring officer will identify and record the consultant service providers to be invited to submit expressions of interest and subsequent tenders or quotations, in accordance with the separate ‘Selection of Contractors, Consultants or other Service Providers Procedure’ and record how these service providers were selected to demonstrate fairness and openness of the procurement process.

2.3The procuring officer will then seek formal approval from the appropriate authorised Director or Manager to obtain written tenders or quotations from the selected consultant service providers.

2.4Following receipt of formal approval the procuring officer will write to each of the selected consultant service providers inviting tenders or quotations for the required services. The contract procurement procedures will be in accordance with the published Standing Orders - Rules for Contracts relative to their respective values.

2.5The procuring officer will also comply with the approved and published ‘Procedures for the despatch, return and opening of Tenders and Quotations’ including completion of a Schedule of Tenders or Quotations’ Form.

2.6Following receipt of the tenders or quotations a formal recorded evaluation must be carried out before a recommendation to award the contract is made.

2.7The procuring officer will prepare an ‘Approval to Award Contract’ form and obtain appropriate authorised Officer approval. A copy of this signed Form must then be forwarded to the Procurement Team to update the Contracts Register.

2.8Finally an appropriate ‘Form of Contract’ or ‘Memorandum of Agreement’ confirming the contracted arrangements will be prepared for signature by both parties, and signed before the contract commences.

3.Aggregation of Values

3.1The writtentender or quotation procedure must only be used to procure ‘one-off’ goods, services or works.

3.2If the procurement is not a ‘one-off’ then the value of any possible or likely repurchase of the same services must be aggregated and the appropriate procurement rule applied. For example, if some services are being purchased to the value of £8,950 and are likely to be reordered, then it should be valued at £17,900 and therefore subject to formal writtentenders being obtained.

4.Advice and Guidance

4.1For any further advice and guidance required on the application of these procedures please contact the Procurement Team.

December 2009

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