Memorandum submitted by Contracts Branch,
Procurement Department, Department for International Development
DFID RESOURCE CENTRES
THE REASONS
FOR THE
ESTABLISHMENT OF
THE RESOURCE
CENTRES, THE
NATURE OF
THEIR WORK
AND METHODS
OF OPERATION
Resource Centres have been established in a
number of fields where:
— competition is limited; there are
only a few UK organisations that can provide the services/advice
required;
— DFID has an ongoing requirement for
the specialised services or advice, often involving frequent small
contracts rather than infrequent large ones; and
— DFID does not have the resources
to provide sufficient advice or services in-house.
Resource Centres enable DFID to act quickly,
obtaining high quality advice, which can be especially useful
in the early stages of projects. They also extend the range of
expertise available to DFID and its partners for consultancy and
research inputs; support and inform the development of DFID policy
and strategy at all levels; ensure that key technical and programme
related issues emerging from consultancy assignments are disseminated
to influence future DFID assistance; and, develop the capacity
of local developing country consultants and groups.
Typical activities include project design, monitoring
and evaluation; developing strategies and guidance on best practice;
dissemination of information/synthesis of experience within DFID;
attendance at conferences and technical meetings; and, developing
new initiatives.
Once a Resource Centre agreement, which outlines
the scope of the services to be provided/terms and conditions/guaranteed
number of days/personnel and/or designations/fee rates, has been
concluded, call down contracts are issued with specific terms
of reference for each activity.
HOW MANY
THERE ARE
AND THE
FIELDS IN
WHICH THEY
OPERATE
DFID currently has 11 Resource Centres working
in:
THE NUMBER
CURRENTLY EMPLOYED
Annex A includes the number of current call
down contracts for each Resource Centre.
THE NAMES,
DESIGNATION AND
PROVENANCE OF
THE SENIOR
PERSONNEL
Details, where available, are at Annex B.
THE MECHANISMS
EMPLOYED TO
RECRUIT STAFF
DFID is unable to comment on the internal recruitment
procedures of the organisations concerned. But, we do of course
examine the CVs of the personnel involved.
NUMBER OF
PROJECTS AWARDED
BY DFID SINCE
1997 TO THE
DIFFERENT CENTRES
AND THEIR
VALUE
We have already clarified that this question
relates to the number of call down contracts issued. Details are
at Annex A.
THE PERCENTAGE
OF WORK
IN THE
DIFFERENT SECTORS
AWARDED BY
DFID TO THE
CENTRES AND
THE PERCENTAGE
OF WORK
SECURED BY
EACH CENTRE
FROM OUTSIDE
CLIENTS (BOTH
IN TERMS
OF VALUE
AND IN
TERMS OF
VOLUME OF
CONTRACTS)
We are unable to comment on work secured from
other clients. Call down contracts let by DFID in 1999 constituted
less than 1.5 per cent of the total consultancy contracts awarded.
This figure relates to value and volume for each sector.
THE MECHANISMS
EMPLOYED TO
EVALUATE BIDS
WHEN PROJECTS
ARE PUT
OUT TO
TENDER
We interpret this question as a request for
information on the decision making process for awarding contracts.
Decisions on whether a contract should be advertised
are made on a case by case basis. All competitions are conducted
under strictly controlled procedures to ensure that DFID adheres
to best procurement practice. The selection of the organisations/individuals
who receive invitations to submit proposals is made on the basis
of professional knowledge of the sector and of consultants working
in that field.
All potential bidders are informed at the outset
of the evaluation criteria—this varies depending on the
services required—to be used in assessing the proposals.
The assessment is two-fold: the technical and commercial proposals
are assessed separately by DFID's professional advisers and Contracts
Branch, respectively. On occasions external assessors are included
in the evaluation process, but as with all evaluations we do ensure
that conflicts of interest are avoided—eg any individual
who has had an association with the bidders would be excluded.
The decision on the preferred supplier is made on the basis of
the evaluation marks; if there is no clear winner then we would
ask consultants to present their proposals before the assessment
panel.
THE MECHANISMS
USED TO
ASSESS THE
SUCCESS OF
THE PROJECTS;
AND, DFID'S
ASSESSMENT OF
THE SUCCESS
RATE OF
PROJECTS SINCE
1997
We interpret these questions as relating to
DFID's assessment both of the projects overall and of the contribution
of using Resource Centres.
As part of their own quality control, Resource
Centres are required to develop an overall strategy to guide consultancy
operations. They are responsible for recruiting and briefing personnel;
maintaining agreed standards of professionalism; and, assessing
and assisting upskilling.
DFID oversees the overall performance and quality
of each Resource Centre by monitoring agreed targets; assessing
performance after each assignment—the success criteria is
developed on a case by case basis and within each individual set
of terms of reference; day to day contact with the Centres; and
in addition to regular meetings, formally evaluating each Resource
Centre's performance. The success of those we engage is judged
according to the extent to which they make a defined impact on
bringing about sustainable progress to our targets set out in
the White Paper.
Contracts Branch, Procurement Department, Department
for International Development
April 2000
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