GUIDANCE NOTE Tendering for, choosing and managing a consultant Using this guidance This information is not intended to be prescriptive, but for guidance only. Appointing consultants for relatively small scale work e.g. under 5000, may not need the level of detail contained in these documents - instead you may wish send out e.g. a 2 page consultants brief taking key points from these documents. To be used in conjunction with the Invitation to Tender for Consultancy template. Users are encouraged to use the template to suit the services you are buying, it is intended to be edited, added to or deleted as the officer feels appropriate. Why use consultants? A consultant is an individual hired to give professional advice or services for a fee. They are usually brought in to help with a specific problem or task and can help to; Deal with specific difficulties and challenges Manage projects Provide advice on improving your business Undertake specialist tasks Benefits of using consultants Provide technical competence Impartiality Take management pressure of an individual or a team allowing them to concentrate on core operational demands Unaffected by organisational politics Previous project experience and knowledge in a particular area Advice on best practice
COMPLETING THE INVITATION TO TENDER TEMPLATE Introduction and background to the project Consultants will be most effective if you give careful thought beforehand to what you want to achieve, why you want to use someone from outside and the timescale and costing for the work. Provide background information about the area of work to be investigated. You should provide sufficient information for the consultants without sending reams of paper. Issues we have identified (problems and concerns) Have you spoken with relevant stakeholders e.g. staff, members, external organisations, about the nature of the problem and considered any input they may have. You should set out how you arrived at the decision to appoint consultants, what is the problem that needs solving, concerns or needs you have? What we want to achieve You should clearly describe what you want the consultant to do and what you expect from them. If you do not, you risk not solving the problem, the consultant may then stay for longer than planned and costs will spiral. Consulting with other relevant people in the organisation to agree the brief will help. Describe what you want What needs doing and what you expect from the consultant? Ensure you understand how the Council will benefit from the work. Are there any constraints that might impact on the work? What we need to know What do you need them to do? What are the key questions you need answering? Required experience and knowledge What level of knowledge or experience do you expect them to have? Do you expect them to hold any relevant qualifications? The key outcomes we want What are the outcomes that you want to achieve? What will the work help you do? The key outputs we want What outputs? deliverables? or products you want from the work? e.g. project start date, draft report, by [date] and final report, by [date], presentation, etc How much you are going to invest in the project It is important to make sure that costs are reasonable for the work involved. You may like to find out from other authorities or businesses of similar size, who have had similar work completed, about what is reasonable to pay. The costs of the consultancy could be determined by either; detailing in the specification what you are prepared to pay and asking consultants what they could do for that amount or, detail the problem you have and ask consultants to describe how they would find a solution and what it would cost. Stakeholders Who are the key stakeholders who the project will impact upon? Timescale State clearly what timeframe you have - start date and completion date. Tenderers should be able to demonstrate the project is deliverable within the stated timescales. When should you be in a position to start implementing the consultant s recommendations?
Submission of tender documents Follow the Councils tendering procedures as usual for procurements. Only ask those consultants who are qualified, to submit proposals. Provide details of one person who will act as a contact point for any queries - any answers or additional information requested should be made anonymous and then circulated to all bidders. What they need to do: Ask the consultant to submit the following information to you in their proposal, plus anything else you feel is relevant. Their understanding of the problem and proposals for how they would help you A breakdown of fees and expenses including a total CV of the consultants who will be undertaking the work The input they will require from the Council Details of similar work they have done An example of one piece of work relevant to the project Any other support they will provide You should ask them to limit their submission to what you feel is appropriate for the brief e.g. to 5 sheets of A4. You may want to ask them to set out their costs on a separate sheet. Also, set a date for when the tender is to be returned by. Timetable It will be helpful to the consultant to provide a timetable of activities. Allow at least 3 weeks, if you can more, for consultants to submit their proposals. Evaluation of consultants You should set out in the tender documents your criteria for evaluating the proposals when they come in. You can limit this to however many criteria you wish and you may like to give weightings to them if you feel it is appropriate. You may like to leave more detailed questions if you shortlist the proposals and ask the consultants to give you a presentation. In evaluating the proposals you might like to ask yourself; How have they complied with the specification? Are they experienced and skilled in the field of work or the particular issues you want them to deal with? Are they interested in the work and available when required? Do they understand how local authorities work? Do they hold necessary qualifications? Do they have membership to professional bodies or professional memberships? Do they have adequate levels of insurance for our organisation or for the job in question? Is the consultant going to sub-contract any of the work? What is the breakdown of their fees? Do you understand fully how the consultant will be carrying out the task? e.g. have they provided an example report at an initial meeting? - does the example reports format and information match what you want? Do the recommendations make sense; are they clear, practical, achievable? Will they alter to format to suit your requirements? Is the chemistry between you and the consultant right? Can they provide referees for similar work they have done? Other examples might include; Credibility and reputation Locality of tenderer Access to specialist resources Approach to risk management Technical competence Size of the work in comparison to size of the consultancy organisation e.g. can they devote the appropriate time to the project/work
Recommendations are useful that come from people who have detailed knowledge or experience of using the consultant. Ask about the scale of the project or piece of work they are undertaking and what the strengths and weaknesses of the consultant are, if they would use them again, etc. Follow up references where you ask for them Appointing the consultant Remember the cheapest quote may not be the best value for money and the fees your preferred consultant quotes may be negotiable. Select the consultant which you feel has the best qualifications and experience and who you feel you can work with comfortably, you should them write to them awarding the contract. If you do not feel happy with any aspect of any consultants proposal do not feel pressured into accepting them. It is good practice to write to consultants who are unsuccessful and offer the opportunity for them to ask you for a de-brief. Contract, terms and conditions When you have selected a consultant to do the work, the arrangements you have agreed should be put into a written contract before the work starts. The contract should cover the work that will be done and the conditions under which it will be done. This could be drawn up by you, the consultant or jointly. Review the contract with the legal section before the contract is signed. It should include; Objectives A specific brief How the consultancy will be managed The length of the consultancy - if the work will end on a fixed date, or when a piece of work has been completed. Charges and payment arrangements Deliverables Key personnel clause - that the consultants undertaking the work will not be replaced unless prior written authorisation is sought from the Council and granted. Should a replacement be necessary the Contractor should ensure they are of equal or higher quality. How the contract will be terminated if things go wrong and cannot be resolved. Be involved and in touch during the work A client/consultant relationship can be hard to get right, it needs commitment of time as well as money from you and to be open and honest to get the most out the work. To get it right it helps to agree with the chosen consultant; Agreed programme of work - Consultants are likely to be most cost effective when working to an agreed programme and timescale. - Agree the tasks to be carried out by each party - clarify your own role, which key staff will be involved and how their time will be made available. How often you will keep in touch - Make sure they keep you fully briefed on the progress against the agreed programme. - Decide how often you need to meet - this provides a good opportunity to discuss the progress to see how the work is proceeding, if they need to know anything else to continue, any problems they are encountering and if your needs or a situation has changed in any way. In most cases it is helpful if the consultant reports directly to one person. Communication should then be clear and misunderstandings will not arise out of conflicting views of differing interpretations. You should ensure that all relevant staff are consulted throughout the project as they will likely have a valuable contribution to make.
If you or your staff need to provide input try to do it in the agreed timescale, if you hold up work this can add additional costs. Involve your staff in the work as early as possible so they own the recommendations and have an interest in the work. If things go wrong You should be able to spot warning signs if things are not going to plan, if this is the case you should raise your concerns at the earliest opportunity. The most important point to the affects of problems is continued communication. The following steps may help resolve problems; Raise concerns early and obtain views of relevant colleagues and of the consultant Refer back to the contact and the brief Be clear on what you need to remedy the problem Use the monitoring and review processes you have set up Is there a lack of effective communication about the direction of the project Have you set your expectations too high or too low? Completion of the work If the consultant is submitting a report, ask them to provide a draft so you can discuss the findings and recommendations before the final report is completed. The final report should not contain any surprises. If there are any confidential or contentious issues, ask for these to be put into a private letter rather than in the report itself. Make sure the report it written in a way you can understand. You may like to ask the consultant to make a presentation of their findings to you and your colleagues. Tell the consultant if you are not happy with the work they have carried out. When the work has been completed and you have the findings and recommendations you will need to decide how to implement them. You may wish to make arrangements for the consultant to help with the implementation, for example by involving them in regular progress meetings, you may need a new consultant to do this. If this is the case get a written quotation and proposal for any implementation work. Some consultants will include one or two follow up sessions within their proposals. Interesting points Institute of Management Consultancy has a Code of Conduct which requires members not to take on work for which they are not qualified. For Management consultancy the Institute of Management Consultancy has a free Consultancy Register that can put you in contact with a number of qualified consultants or consultancy practices. If you have any feedback on using this documentation and if there is anything which would help improve it, please send comments to Joanne Leah, Corporate Procurement Officer, x6341.