Amd 01 Atch J.3 Atch A Annex 6_ Interview guide for procuring entities.doc

MCC-08-0111-RFP-42, Amendment 01, Attachment J.3, Attachment A, Annex 6

Annex 6: Interview guide – Procuring entities

Background

· Educational background

· Professional background

· Years of service (in organisation)

· Key tasks and responsibilities

· Description of the entire procurement cycle from needs identification to contract management etc.

Pillar I – Legislative and Regulatory Framework

Indicator 1:

Public procurement legislative and regulatory framework achieves the agreed standards and complies with applicable obligations

· Are you aware of how you may acquire a new copy of the documents?

· Please give reasons.

· Types of tenders advertised?

· Time limit?

· Types of advertisement?

· Scale of advertisement?

· Do you ever experience obstacles to advertisement of tenders?

· Which information do you usually include in your advertisements?

· If so, explain.

· Do you experience any obstacles to the development of technical specifications?

· To which extent are pass/fail selection criteria used?

· How do you carry out evaluations of requests for proposals for consulting services evaluated?

· Do you ever experience irregularities in the evaluation process?

· If so, what are they typically caused by?

· How are bids kept during the evaluation process?

· Describe the tender opening process (when, who, how)

· Are records of proceedings retained?

Indicator 2:

Existence of Implementing Regulations and Documentation

· Do you find that the Regulations adequately support your work?

· If no, why not?

· Do you find the SBDs adequately detailed to support your work?

· If no, why not?

· For which types of tenders is pre-qualification used?

· For which types of tenders is pre-qualification used?

· Is it clear to you when different modalities of selection (exclusively technical capacity OR combined price and quality) should be used?

· Do you find the Desk Instructions adequately detailed to support your work?

· If no, why not?

· Do the GCC adequately support your work?

· If no, why not?

Pillar II – Institutional Framework and Management Capacity

Indicator 3:

The public procurement system is mainstreamed and well integrated into the public sector governance system

· If yes, describe.

· If no, give reasons.

· Does a procurement plan exist for your organisation?

· If no, give reasons.

· If yes:

· Describe the procurement plan development process.

· Describe the content of the procurement plan (costs, timeframe, etc.)

· Describe the linkages between the procurement plan and the budget formulation.

· If yes, does it cover the full amount of the contract?

· If no, why not?

· Are invoices processed to ensure timely payment?

· If not, why not?

· Are payments authorised within four weeks following approval of invoices?

· If not, explain why?

· If yes, is there a mechanism in place in your organisation to support certification (e.g. IFMIS)?

· If so, is this working optimally?

· If yes, please describe the mechanism.

· If no, why not?

Indicator 4:

The country has a functional normative/regulatory body

Sub-indicator 4(b) - The body has a defined set of responsibilities that include but are not limited to the following:

· providing advice to contracting entities;

· drafting amendments to the legislative and regulatory framework and implementing regulations;

· monitoring public procurement;

· providing procurement information;

· managing statistical databases;

· reporting on procurement to other parts of government;

· developing and supporting implementation of initiatives for improvements of the public procurement system; and

· providing implementing tools and documents to support training and capacity development of implementing staff.

· Are you aware of ODPP’s role as advisory body to your organisation?

· Have you taken advantage of this function?

· If yes, how?

· If no, why not?

· Have ODPP provided training, sensitisation, information etc. to your organisation?

· If yes, please describe the types of activities. What was the outcome of these activities?

· If no, state the reasons.

Indicator 5:

Existence of institutional development capacity

· If yes, describe the process.

· If no, why not?

· Does your organisation evaluate procurement staff performance?

· If yes, how is this being done?

· If no, why not?

· Have any of the procurements carried out by your organisation been audited?

· If yes, describe the process.

· If no, why not?

Pillar III – Procurement Operations and Market Practices

Indicator 6:

The country’s procurement operations and practices are efficient

· Do job profiles exist for procurement jobs?

· If yes, please describe the different stages of the procurement process (from need to contract).

· How many staff members in your organisation have to undertake procurements on an ad-hoc basis?

· Do these staff members have adequate information about procurement issues?

· Or do they have access to professional staff who can provide this knowledge?

· If no, why not?

· What kind of training have they undertaken?

· Did the training fulfil the needs of your organisation?

· If no, why not?

· Do you find that the procurement training offered meets the needs of your organisation?

· If no, how should the training supply be improved?

· Have your organisation’s staff members experienced waiting time to get into a course?

· If yes, what was the waiting time?

· If yes, what caused the waiting time?

· Are they available for public inspection?

· Which documents are included in a typical procurement file?

· How long do you keep records of procurements?

· Have any measures been taken to protect the procurement records kept in your office?

· If yes, explain how.

· If no, why not?

· If no, why not?

· Who carries out procurements in your organisation?

· Do procurements take place which are not channelled through the SPU/IPC?

· If so, why?

Indicator 7:

Functionality of the public procurement market

· If yes, please describe.

· If no, have such fora been considered?

· Does your organisation participate in capacity building initiatives with the private sector, including SMEs?

· If yes, please describe.

· If no, have capacity building been considered?

· Do public-private partnerships exist for your organisation?

· If yes, please describe.

· If no, have partnerships been considered?

Indicator 8:

Existence of contract administration and dispute resolution provisions

· Do you have a mechanism in place for quality control for goods?

· If yes, describe the mechanism (who, what, how)?

· If no, why not?

· Who carries out supervision of civil works?

· Are you able to process final payments promptly?

· If not, why not?

Pillar IV – Integrity and Transparency of the Public Procurement System

Indicator 9:

The country has effective control and audit systems

· If yes, please explain the process.

· If no, do you expect this to happen in the near future?

· Does your organisation carry out internal audits?

· If yes, please describe the process.

· If no, why not?

· How many recommendations from external and internal auditors have been received?

· How have these been handled?

· What is the timeframe of responding to recommendations?

· If no, please describe the level of procurement competence among auditors.

Indicator 10:

Efficiency of appeals mechanism

· If yes, what is typically complained about?

· How are complaints typically being handled?

· Are complaints ever being settled verbally?

· Are complaints handled on time?

· Do you find that your organisation has sufficient capacity to handle complaints?

· If no, what are the main deficiencies?

· If yes, how is this ensured?

· If no, why not?

Indicator 12:

The country has ethics and anti-corruption measures in place

· Is the existing reporting mechanism adequate?

· If not, how should it be improved?

Additional indicators

· If so, at which stage of the procurement process did it happen?

· Please give details.

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