Procurement of Consultancy Services
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please could you provide a breakdown of which mechanisms you procure consultancy services from, specifically:
1. Do you use national procurement frameworks to procure consultancy?
a. If so, which frameworks do you use, and what proportion of your consultancy spend over the last 12 months has been on each of the frameworks you are part of.
2. Do you use third party neutral vendors/procurement solution providers (eg ESPO, Bloom, Procurement hub) to procure consultancy?
a. If so which do you use, and what proportion of your consultancy spend over the last 12 months has been on each of the vendors you use.
3. Do you use internal frameworks to procure consultancy? (IE frameworks that are not national, that you administer yourselves or share with a small number of other local authorities)
a. If so what proportion of your consultancy spend over the last 12 months has been on each of the frameworks you have and when will they expire/re-open for applications.
4. Have you procured consultancy services through your own unique, project specific tender processes? (for example advertising a tender for a specific consultancy piece of work)
a. If so what proportion of your consultancy spend was procured through this route, and where do you advertise such opportunities?
5. Have you procured consultancy services through any other mechanisms in the last 12 months? (for example direct awards). If so what proportion of your consultancy spend was this for.
Yours faithfully,
Benjamin Barnes
Thank you for your email which has been forwarded to the FOI office for response.
Kind regards
Customer Services
Swindon Borough Council
Wat Tyler House
Swindon SN1 2JG
Phone: 01793 445500
E-mail: [Swindon Borough Council request email]
Website: www.swindon.gov.uk
[1]Swindon Borough Council
Dear Benjamin Barnes,
Case reference number: FOI001953
Thank you for your request. The Freedom of Information Act creates two
general rights in relation to information:
1. The right to be told whether or not the information requested is
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and in any event no later than 07/08/2019. Please allow postal time.
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Kind regards,
Freedom of information officer
Swindon Borough Council
References
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3. mailto:[Swindon Borough Council request email]?subject=Invite%20to%20My%20Account
Dear Mr Barnes,
Ref: FW: FOI001953 Freedom of Information request - Procurement of
Consultancy Services
I acknowledge the receipt of your email that was received on 10^th July,
2019.
The Council has a duty to respond ‘promptly’, or no later than 20 working
days which in this case is 7^th August, 2019.
Please find the response to the following questions:
1. Do you use national procurement frameworks to procure
consultancy?
Response: Yes
a. If so, which frameworks do you use, and what proportion of
your consultancy spend over the last 12 months has been on each of the
frameworks you are part of.
Response:
• Short form consultancy agreement
• G Cloud 10
• Crown Commercial Services Management consultancy CCS RM3745
– Lot 8 – ICT and Digital
Response: 8.8% of contracts over a 12 month period
2. Do you use third party neutral vendors/procurement solution
providers (eg ESPO, Bloom, Procurement hub) to procure consultancy?
Response: Yes
a. If so which do you use, and what proportion of your
consultancy spend over the last 12 months has been on each of the vendors
you use.
Response: Bloom
0.1% of consultancy spend over a 12 month period
3. Do you use internal frameworks to procure consultancy? (IE
frameworks that are not national, that you administer yourselves or share
with a small number of other local authorities)
Response: Yes – one.
a. If so what proportion of your consultancy spend over the
last 12 months has been on each of the frameworks you have and when will
they expire/re-open for applications.
Response: 19.4% of consultancy spend over a 12 month period. Expires July
2020.
4. Have you procured consultancy services through your own
unique, project specific tender processes? (for example advertising a
tender for a specific consultancy piece of work)
Response: Yes.
a. If so what proportion of your consultancy spend was procured
through this route, and where do you advertise such opportunities?
Response: 32.6% of consultancy spend over a 12 month period. Expires
July 2020. Where applicable contracts are advertised on
www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk, Contracts Finder and Tenders Electronic
Daily.
5. Have you procured consultancy services through any other
mechanisms in the last 12 months? (for example direct awards). If so what
proportion of your consultancy spend was this for.
Response: Yes – direct awards account for 29.1% of consultancy spend over
a 12 month period.
In addition, a number of consultancy projects fall below the threshold at
which transparency requirements start (£5,000) therefore the Council does
not record centrally the process for how these were procured (10% of
consultancy spend over a 12 month period).
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your
request and wish to make a review you should contact:
Customer Services
Civic Offices
Euclid Street
Swindon
[1][email address]
The complaints/review procedure involves a full review by the Information
Governance Manager [2][email address]
If you are not content with the outcome of our conclusion, you may apply
directly to the Information Commissioner's Office for a decision before
contacting the Council. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless
you have exhausted the Council's own complaints procedure.
The Information Officer can be contacted at:
The Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
If you require any further information concerning this matter please
contact me quoting the reference number at the top of the email.
Yours sincerely,
Sharon Druett
Freedom of Information Officer
Information & Technology
Swindon Borough Council
Tel: 07989 386 988
Web: www.swindon.gov.uk
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