Breadcrumb Links

External Consultancy


External consultancy

The requirement for consultancy support will depend on the Council’s resource capability. Some councils have technical expertise in-house whilst others do not. For those that have, it may be committed to other projects and therefore some work will inevitably need to be outsourced.

External consultancy is often a preferred option due to providing an alternative perspective and transparency.

Key areas where assistance may be required in the Strategy and Feasibility stages include:

Independence – Appointment of an independent member of the Project team or Project Board to add external scrutiny.

Business cases - Management and production of the business cases.

Financial feasibility studies - This can be a specialist area using NPV discounted cashflows and following Treasury Green Book guidance.

Programme management - Whilst some councils have dedicated programme offices, some organisations, including central government departments, are using third party consultants to coordinate programmes of work.

As the project progresses to implementation, areas where additional support may be required include:

  • Space planning;
  • Planning;
  • Project management;
  • Specialist ICT;
  • Design team members, i.e. Architect, quantity surveyor, engineers etc;
  • Independent certifier;
  • Construction/development procurement;
  • Legal advice in relation to procurement process and planning;
  • Financial advice, particularly if pursuing a joint venture such as a Public Private Partnership;
  • Life cycle costing;
  • Facilities management.

These are by no means exhaustive but give an indication of the range of potential external services that may be needed.

 Printable version