| | New guidance has been
published which is set
to transform the way
councils procure
consultants in a bid to
cut local government’s
growing consultancy
bill.
With funding from the
London Centre of
Excellence (LCE), the
guidance has been drawn
up jointly by the City
of London Corporation
and the London Borough
of Hounslow and seeks to
make a 10% year-on-year
efficiency gain on
consultancy spending.
According to LCE
figures, £170m a year is
spent on consultants by
London boroughs alone.
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Called the
Commissioning toolkit
for the procurement of
consultancy and
professional services,
the guidance sets out
the steps necessary to
realise efficiency gains
and achieve good value
from the use of
consultants. It shares
best practice and
encourages councils to
collaborate on
procurement. And while
it recommends a
structured approach to
reviewing and engaging
consultants, it
encourages councils to
make better use of their
own resources first.
To support the use of | |
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| | the toolkit in London, a
package of training
designed to boost
commissioning skills and
a web-based knowledge
centre to allow boroughs
to benchmark costs,
share details of
projects and monitor
performance will be
available shortly.
The Regional Centres
of Excellence (RCEs)
will be considering how
best to implement the
toolkit across the other
eight English regions as
part of the wider RCE
Procurement Programme.
The move has been
prompted by the mounting
cost of procuring
management consultants. | |
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| | A recent report
published by the
National Audit Office
(NAO) found that public
sector spending on
consultants had
increased by a third in
three years, with much
of the growth accounted
for by the NHS, although
local government’s bill
is expected to rise if
spending goes unchecked.
Mark Gilks, chief
executive at the London
Borough of Hounslow,
said: “Local government
contains huge talents
and skills and yet the
sheer complexity of the
task faced means that
local authorities will
need to commission | |
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| | external consultants.
This requires real skill
which has been captured
by this project and
presented in a highly
understandable and
usable fashion from
which all authorities
can benefit.”
The toolkit addresses
consultants that provide
advice, development and
project implementation
services to local
authorities in areas
such as strategic
planning, management,
ICT, legal, financial,
environment and
housing.
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