Please confirm details of any contract(s) or equivalent in place between TfL and the firm of consultants, Gardiner & Theobald I understand that a number of consultants have been brought in to TfL's Procurement & Supply Chain (Commercial) department I'd like confirmation of the value of this contract or contracts, the start date and whether an end date is confirmed, who signed this off, and what the scope of the contract is It appears to me that a number of these consultants have been brought in and have effectively taken on permanent staff members' line management roles - can you confirm whether these individuals have completed TfL's Managing Essentials or other training, induction etc, and whether they have access to approve requests for annual leave etc; and whether they are being given responsibility for carrying out staff performance management, performance and development reviews etc?

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Our ref: FOI-1436-2021

Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 27 October 2020 asking for information about contracts with Gardiner & Theobald.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our Information Access Policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you requested. You asked:

Please confirm details of any contract(s) or equivalent in place between TfL and the firm of consultants, Gardiner & Theobald.

I understand that a number of consultants have been brought in to TfL's Procurement & Supply Chain (Commercial) department.

I'd like confirmation of the value of this contract or contracts, the start date and whether an end date is confirmed, who signed this off, and what the scope of the contract is.

It appears to me that a number of these consultants have been brought in and have effectively taken on permanent staff members' line management roles - can you confirm whether these individuals have completed TfL's Managing Essentials or other training, induction etc, and whether they have access to approve requests for annual leave etc; and whether they are being given responsibility for carrying out staff performance management, performance and development reviews etc?

The overall value of the contract with Gardiner and Theobald is £4.8m.

Details of the separate consultant contracts can be found in the table below:

	Ref.	Title	Dates	Scope		Approval
	PPMCS Task 168b	Support to the Surface Transport Procurement & Supply Chain Function	03/19 -11/20	Provision of commercial support services to Road User Charging, Highways and Sponsored Services. No people management responsibilities.		Finance Director
	PPMCS Task 202	Lead Commercial Manager Highways	02/20 -12/20	Provision of interim resource to lead procurement team pending recruitment. Includes line management but no SAP access, and line management decisions are made in consultation with the B5. SAP-related matters are delivered by the B5.		Finance Director
	PPM Task 3	Surface Rail Review	07/20 - 08/20	Review of existing team. No people management responsibilities.		Finance Director
	PPM Task 7	Surface Rail Commercial Support	08/20 - 12/20 (potential extension to March 2021)	Provision of short-term commercial support services to Surface Rail pending recruitment. Includes line management responsibilities.		Finance Director
	PPM Task 4	Hammersmith Bridge Ferry service procurement	10/20 - 02/21	Provision of procurement services No people management responsibilities.		Finance Director
22523		Crossrail 2	03/20 – 03/21		1) building and maintaining the investment model, 2) developing and assuring the Master Control Estimate (MCE) and 3) to develop and maintain the master risk and opportunities register   No line management responsibilities		Head of Commercial Controls and Managing Director
17572		Commercial Services Partner	12/17 -11/21		Provision of commercial services to TfL Line Upgrades projects   Some line management responsibilities.		Head of Commercial

In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to provide individual consultant contract values as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under section 43(2) – commercial interests.

In this instance the exemptionhas been applied as disclosure of requested budget and spend would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of the contractor. Disclosing this financial information would be likely to prejudice their commercial interests as it would provide competitors with an advantage by giving an insight into the costs of their consultancy services. There is also a commercial harm likely to arise in respect of TfL’s ability to obtain best value for money in relation to future procurement agreements as prospective bidders may use this information to cluster their bids and therefore reduce the competitiveness of the tender process.

The use of this exemption is subject to an assessment of the public interest in relation to the disclosure of the information concerned. TfLrecognisesthe need for openness and transparency by public authorities, particularly where the use of public assets is concerned, but in this instance the public interest in ensuring that TfL is able to obtain the best value from public assets, and that the marketplace is able to retain its competitiveness, outweighs the general public interest in increasing transparency of TfL’s processes.

As set out above, we have some contracts which include line management responsibilities; these are in place in order to provide resource pending approval of permanent recruitment. Where consultants are providing some line management activities, these are done in conjunction with the Head of Procurement in a ‘buddy’ system.

All consultants with line management responsibilities have been asked to undertake TfL’s Managing Essentials. Some individuals have access to approve annual leave and performance management, but it is done in discussion with the Head of Procurement.

If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation.

If this is not the information you are looking for, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.

Yours sincerely,

Melissa Nichols

FOI Case Officer

General Counsel

Transport for London

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