Pamela Stewart B.A., LL.B., PMP, Stanford Certified PM, MCBA, ITIL V3 Promoting transparency in government contracting
about pam resume sample projects contact pam's blog		blog home recommendations for change about this blog Recommendations for change On January 12, 2011, I sent a letter to the Director of IT Procurement at Shared Services BC about recommendations for changes in the process to select consultants from the Qualified Supplier Lists (QSLs). This letter was reviewed by a number of consultants and firms. Here are the recommendations with some updates. 1 Visibility of opportunities Concern: Contracting opportunities are not published. Recommendation: Briefly post the opportunity and the minimum qualifications required on BC Bid. Restrict submissions to consultants who are already on the Qualified Supplier Lists and who have already demonstrated that they have the minimum qualifications. 2 Responses by qualified consultants Concern: Consultants do not have a fair opportunity to bid on projects. The RFQs that created the QSLs requested brief 2-page or 4-page resumes, so a keyword search by Ministry selectors will miss many consultants who may be qualified. Inclusion on a List is not the same thing as an opportunity to proactively bid on a project. Recommendations: Allow QSL-listed consultants to respond to opportunities in a very brief easy-to-evaluate standard format (e.g. a structured letter proposal) where the consultant provides information, supplementary to the information already provided in the QSL proposal, that is specific to the posted opportunity. Make it clear in the RFQs that the request for 2-page or 4-page resumes is not mandatory, e.g. by using the word "should". 3 Consultants who receive contracts Concern: Contracting is not transparent.  There is a perception that Ministries are directing contracts to consultants whom they know. Recommendation: Require that Ministries post opportunities as described above, and assign point scoring criteria that will be equally and fairly applied to all eligible consultants. Publish a list on a web site showing which consultants receive contracts, the Ministries that issued the contracts, and the value of the contracts. Create a formal appeal process to deal with perceptions of unfair contracting practices. 4 Efficiency of the process Concern: Administration of the QSLs is not efficient. It takes up to 3 months, or possibly longer, for a consultant’s proposal to be evaluated. Consultants are not notified when their updates are evaluated, therefore consultants do not know what version of their submission is being seen by the Ministries. Recommendations: Take steps to improve efficiency and allocate additional staff to QSL administration. [Note: In 2011 the government responded to suggestions from consultants by reducing the evaluation period from annually to quarterly.] See the suggestion below about contracting or outsourcing administrative services. 5 Outsourcing Concern: There is a concern that government will attempt to privatize hiring of independent consultants and small firms through an intermediary company. This could lead to forced sub-contracting, lack of oversight and accountability, and unfair and monopolistic practices to the detriment of government.  It would be an unwelcome intrusion by government into business relationships in the private sector. Independent consultants would earn less, government would pay more, and no added value would result. Recommendations: Organize a dialogue with representation from independent consultants and small firms regarding ways to make the contracting process more efficient for the Ministries, and fair for the private sector. If government is considering privatization for greater efficiency and reduced workload on government staff, consider contracting or outsourcing only administrative functions such as posting opportunities and results, maintaining the QSLs, enabling authorized Ministries’ staff to search the lists, and enabling consultants to post updates to their addresses and resumes, without outsourcing any ability to influence which consultants are shortlisted or selected. Any outsourcing company should not be allowed to charge consultants any fees. Consultants already pay $100 to $250 annually for BC Bid services. Government should retain oversight and accountability, ensure transparency, establish fair practices, evaluate proposals, directly select and contract the successful consultants, and make all decisions in any appeal process.