Consultancy {and professional} companies spend information necessities
Until October 2021, the requirements for the approval of expenditure for advice and professional services (C & PS) are set out in the currently applicable guidelines. In summary, spending proposals above £ 10m require cabinet approval as part of the control of trade spending and central government agencies collect data on their C&PS spending above £ 1m but below the £ 10m threshold have to. The new control thresholds and rules, which will come into effect in October, are detailed in the relevant section below.
As of May 4, 2021, you must provide the Cabinet Office with information on all counseling and professional services expenses worth £ 100,000 or more (excluding recoverable VAT) and / or for a period of three months or more. This should be done once the expenditure has been approved by the appropriate authority in your organization.
Reporting requirement
The cabinet office must be informed both after the competent authority has approved the market launch of your requirement and after the award of the contract has been approved (at the points Outline Business Case and Full Business Case). This is a condition of your delegated authority under control to obtain advice and professional services. You must also notify the Cabinet Office of any subsequent extension or change to the approved contract, or of any material change in the cost, duration or terms of the contract when it is awarded.
You must report all approvals granted after May 4, 2021 through the Consulting and Professional Services Portal (CPSP). Information should be given as soon as possible and no later than 10 working days after approval.
For definitions of the Consulting and Professional Services categories, see Crown Commercial Service’s General Expense Procurement Definitions:
Common areas of expenditure: procurement definitions
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New authorization requirement from October 2021
As of October 2021 (date to be confirmed closer to the time), department officials will have to confirm that approval has been given by a competent minister as part of the disclosure process. For non-ministerial departments and other central government agencies, approval can be given by the organisation’s accounting officer.
In August, we will be releasing additional guidance setting out the expectations and timing of the introduction of the requirement that central government agencies obtain cabinet approval to spend on proposals of £ 500,000 and / or more than nine months or more .
triage
The Cabinet Office has developed a triage approach to managing counseling needs. A first pilot project will be extended to volunteer departments from May to September. A separate guide is provided for each of these departments. Advice and considerations in the triage phase will be used to inform the later approval decision as part of C&PS spending control, and formalization in processes will be a key outcome of the triage pilots.
In addition, all departments can access triage advice and strategic advice on an ad hoc basis to support them, including: access to strategic advice, existing knowledge, work and skills in HMG and examination of alternative delivery options to outside companies. Please contact [email protected] for access to guidance and triage support.
Approval over £ 10m
In C&PS cases that trigger the above thresholds, you will need to continue reporting spending above your existing commercial spending control threshold to [email protected] and entering summary data on the spending proposal in the CPSP.
Contact
If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
