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