Professional advisers

Such advisors will usually be professional private sector consultants, who may be expensive, scarce and probably part time resources.

Their services will need to be obtained as a result of a separate, parallel and probably competitive procurement.

It may be that you need more than one specialist (e.g. a lawyer and a financial expert for a PFI deal). This may lead to more than one company being employed, therefore more than one contract for their provision being required, and maybe also more than one procurement to obtain all the expert consultancy services that your procurement project requires to support it.

The management of these specialist advisors is very important and specific people should be assigned on a "one to one" basis to focus them, look after them, and generally ensure that their (expensive) efforts yield the intended benefits & results. For example, an advisor should not have to go and search for relevant papers, such papers should be brought to them. They should not be left to their own devices.

This professional consultancy services procurement, and the management of the advisors once procured, should not be forgotten within the planning, timing, costing and resourcing of the overall procurement for service provision.

There may be difficulty in scheduling each advisor's time in, at the right time for the project's needs.

Are specialist advisors to a portfolio project, part of the "parent" programme?

Advisors and consultants should not be used in key decision making roles on projects and programmes

To provide the procurement team with specialist advice (in accordance with specific terms of reference), on the areas, to the depth, and at the time needed. Such TORs would include scope and depth of advice, timing of advice delivery and delivery mechanism for their advice

Such delivery mechanisms could be:

• Verbally, straight into the contract negotiation with the Provider;

• a presentation (with slides / handouts) to a Project Board, Programme Manager, or a meeting; or

• a written report to a particular audience.

• It could be that the specialist advisor, is in fact the Project Manager or the Programme Manager, and what you are "buying-in" is the expertise and experience of a qualified project / programme manager.