ProjecTeam Ltd
21 Lakeside
Bury BL9 9TX
INDEX:
FREE GUIDANCE:
Tender
Evaluation
Tender
Boards
Contract
Management
SUGGESTED
UPDATES TO TREASURY MODEL
ADVANTAGES FOR:
Government
NHS
Trusts
Companies
GOODS
PROCUREMENT
FREE GUIDANCE
ProjecTeam
Ltd
Tel: 0161-766-8709 Fax: 0161-766-6620 E-mail: mdrake@projecteam.co.uk
Extract from National Statistics Office Scrutiny Report - January 1998
The Department of Social Security (DSS) is one department which has adopted best practice in procurement and contract management in respect of services contracts through the use of model framework documents covering specification, schedule of prices and rates, and administration instructions.
The use of these model framework documents results in a number of benefits including:-
-
savings in administration costs and no more "re-inventing the wheel";
-
better protection for the department, examples of which include control over the use of sub-contractors and movement of the contractor’s key staff;
-
easier legal approval of the documentation with only project specific changes, if any, needing to be addressed;
-
a standardised approach to monthly reporting and project management information which provides the required information to the department but reduces the contractor’s overheads and therefore tender costs;
-
the gathering of information relating to the tendered sum to enable the pricing of variations. This enables the competitive element of the tender process to be retained in the pricing of variations during the lifetime of the contract.
Much of the advice provided to DSS in use of these model framework documents came from ProjecTeam, a consultancy operation involving the chairman (Martin Drake) of the inter-government working group responsible for the production of CUP Guidance Note 59 model suite of contract documents. In addition to being the chairman, Drake was also the principal author of the documents.
ProjecTeam have further developed the CUP documents and prepared specific framework documents not provided by CUP. They also provide guidance on the drafting pitfalls to be avoided in specifications; support to departments in the production and management of services contracts; a document updating service; optional help-line; and training.
The scrutiny team are persuaded of the benefits of using model framework documents to minimise risk, improve quality of service and develop effective partnerships with contractors.
During this scrutiny we have become acutely aware of the risks associated with contracting out services, but the protection offered by these documents reduces those risks to a minimum.
For example, a poorly drafted specification is an invitation for the contractor to make a claim: the ProjecTeam framework document is aimed at eliminating the causes of claims.
It also spells out the client requirements to be met during the "setting-up operations" period and allows the department, in the event of problems, to terminate the contract before the contractor becomes responsible for the actual service delivery.
It provides guidance on the establishment of national contracts which would not need to be terminated in the event of under performance in a single region (the official ONS view is that such contracts would have to be terminated, to the detriment of those sites which are receiving a satisfactory service).
Guidance is also given regarding the use of performance specifications instead of being prescriptive; the need to avoid the use of ambiguous terminology; and the importance of the correct use of defined terms.