Non-permanent staff (2019)
Request
Please can you provide me information on how the HoC resources non-permanent staff i.e. Contractors, Consultants, Agency Staff? Please provide me with a list of the frameworks used to secure these resources.
Response
Please note that the House of Commons and the House of Lords are separate public authorities for the purposes of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA). However, as some of the information you have requested is held on a bicameral basis, this response covers information that is held by both Houses of Parliament.
This information is held by the House of Commons.
General resourcing for non-permanent agency staff by the House of Commons and the Parliamentary Digital Service (PDS) is done using the Crown Commercial Service framework RM6160. This replaces the expired RM971 framework. G Cloud 11 RM 1557.11 is also utilised for specialist technical resources for service based requirements, specifically within PDS.
Consultants for other departments are procured in line with the Parliamentary Procurement Rules which are publicly available on our parliamentary pages.
Specialised Parliamentary framework agreements for Project/Cost Management, Multi-Disciplinary Design Services and Building Surveying are used to source contractors for work within the Strategic Estates team of the House of Commons. A Parliamentary dynamic purchasing system also exists for procuring the services of audio visual specialists. If any requirements fall outside of these frameworks, the House uses external frameworks available to the public sector, such as Crown Commercial Services, Scape and Pagabo, on an ad hoc basis. This is also done in line with the Parliamentary Procurement Rules linked above.