Departmental Consultants
Energy and Climate Change
David Simpson (Upper Bann, DUP)
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what procedures his Department uses when engaging external consultants.
Gregory Barker (Minister of State (Climate Change), Energy and Climate Change; Bexhill and Battle, Conservative)
The Department only uses external consultants for essential work which it is clear cannot be done in-house.
The business case for any proposed consultancy in excess of £20,000 must be approved by the Chief Operating Officer and a Minister. Continuing contracts must be re-approved every three months. Contracting through a cross-Government framework agreement is always considered first, however if no suitable framework exists then an open competitive tender is placed on the Official Journal of the European Union (if the estimated value is near or above the EU threshold), or if below using the Contracts Finder facility which ensures open competition.
Similar procedures apply to proposed consultancy below £20,000 except that approval at Director General level is sufficient in such cases.