§ Mrs. MayTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment (1) if he will list the organisations on the short-list of bodies considered suitable to take over the services of local education authorities and the bodies on the short-list for offering consultancy services; [79022]
(2) if he will list the criteria used to determine the suitability of organisations to be on the short-list of bodies to take over the services of local education authorities or to offer consultancy services; [79023]
(3) what is the basis for his decision not to include the Local Government Association in the list of bodies suitable to take over the services, or offer consultancy to, local education authorities. [79024]
§ Ms Estelle MorrisAs I stated in my reply of 22 February 1999,Official Report, column 18, 98 expressions of interest were received for consultancy work and 107 for the delivery of LEA functions. We are currently conducting negotiations and seeking further 501W information from a number of selected organisations. It is normal commercial practice not to divulge the names of such organisations, as to do so could jeopardise the chances of a fair competition. DfEE officials have written to the LGA, setting out the reasons why they were not successful at the first stage. We hope to announce in April the lists of those organisations which we intend to use to provide consultancy services or to act as function providers. The criteria on which our selection is based are as follows:
Strand 1—improvement action plans.Evidence provided by the applicant to demonstrate their track record of working with service providers in order to improve service delivery performance.The evidence should demonstrate a track record of work involving
- identifying and prioritising tasks and objectives;
- analysing roles and functions within organisations;
- development and assessment of the suitability of options and alternative methods of delivery;
- detailed implementation and monitoring/management of action plans.
Strand 2—specification preparation and related work
- Evidence demonstrating work that requires a proven track record of understanding the type and nature of services provided by LEAs.
- Evidence demonstrating that the applicant has prepared service related tender/contract specifications.
- Evidence demonstrating the applicant's understanding of the methodology and processes involved in specification preparation.
- The quality and nature of the reference sites that the applicant has named for what they consider to be relevant work.
Strand 3—contract and project management
- Evidence demonstrating a track record in handling complex contract and project management arrangements.
- Evidence demonstrating that they have successfully taken over the management of complex or sensitive contracts or projects at short notice.
Strand 4—financial costings
- Evidence demonstrating that the applicant has a track record of establishing base-line service delivery costs.
- Evidence demonstrating a track record of undertaking effective efficiency reviews.
Function Providers.
For each strand, applicants were considered on the basis of the evidence they presented on
- Their track record of providing services related to that strand or comparable services;
- How their experience made them a suitable candidate for an approved list of suppliers for that function strand;
- How they intended to develop the specific capabilities required for that function strand.
A range of more specific evidence was considered for each function strand, and I will write to the hon. Member setting these out.