Post Procurement
Contract & Supplier Management / monitoring
It is important that community benefit requirements included in the specification should be incorporated into the final contract terms.
Sufficient resource should also be allocated by the public body to ensure there is relevant and proportionate monitoring of intended outcomes as part of on-going contract and supplier management.
There should be intent on the part of the public body to effectively record progress made against each intended outcome which can be included as standing items in regular contract review meetings.
This helps to ensure that commitments by the winning bidder(s) on community benefits are monitored for progress and implemented in the agreed timescale within the duration of the contract. This is vital to demonstrate whether intended outcomes have been delivered and to identify lessons for further development or other contracts.
Frequency of monitoring, for example monthly, quarterly, biannually, etc, will depend on the individual contract and what’s appropriate in terms of the nature of contract, length and type of community benefits.
A public body should collect appropriate information to enable the reporting of community benefits within regulated procurements in line with the Act as explained earlier in this guidance. They may also wish to identify which priority groups (including for example, individuals who were previously economically inactive) have benefitted because of the contract’s employment, skills and training related community benefits.
Ongoing improvement and innovation can also be built into the management of the contract to further realise additional benefits.
Escalation process (if appropriate)
A buyer should consider building in an escalation process to manage instances of community benefit commitments being missed. For example:
- community Benefit KPIs or milestones are not met
- reports are late or incomplete
- delivery is at risk due to resource gaps
- planned actions are significantly reduced
Initial actions might include for example:
- the Contract Manager notifies the contractor in writing
- the Contractor provides a short corrective statement or explanation
- an informal review meeting takes place to discuss the issue, corrective action and agree new short-term milestones
- opportunity for informal corrective action
Should issues persist or the Contractor fails to take reasonable action, escalation may be necessary. Actions might include for example:
- A formal Improvement Plan (objectives, tasks, owners, deadlines)
- Director/senior manager or executive‑level oversight from the Contractor
- Increased reporting and / or contract management meetings (e.g., monthly instead of quarterly)
- Clear possibility that continual failure may trigger contractual remedies as per the terms and conditions of contract.
See Annex A for examples.
Knowledge Checklist
- Monitor delivery of community benefits
- Include performance indicators