Description of the goods or services required
INVITE TO TENDER – 30/10/2023
PLANNING BUILT CONSERVATION / LISTED BUILDING SUPPORT
SNOWDONIA NATIONAL PARK AUTHORITY
1. Introduction:
2. The National Park Authority wish to commission the services of a suitably qualified contractor(s) to help process our planning built conservation / Listed Building Consent (LBC) caseload.
3. The Authority has one Planning Conservation Officer within the team, but this post has been vacant since August 2023 – and to date we have been unsuccessful in filling the post. We will continue to market the post with the hope of recruiting soon. The workload has been covered by an agency contracted conservation architect since September 2023, although this contract will terminate in December. Cover is needed from mid-late November (hopefully provided some cross-over with the agency worker) until late February (by which time we hope to have recruited into our permanent position). There is potential to extend the contract should we not have been successful recruiting the permanent post.
4. Nature of Work and Case Load.
5. The work would predominantly comprise drafting up delegated officer reports or providing specialist advice on application for LBC and on enforcement cases relating to listed buildings. It would also comprise pre-application enquiries relating to listed buildings.
6. It is uncertain at this stage whether the contract would comprise working towards full completion of applications by producing Delegated Officer Reports, or whether this would be providing advice on a consultee basis in order for planning officers to complete the Delegated Report. It may well be a combination of the two, and this would require further discussion post contract award stage. With regard to enforcement cases, it would be on a consultee basis and officers would draft up any Enforcement Notices.
7. This contract would be to temporarily fill in for a vacant full-time post – therefore in theory the successful contractor would potentially be required for a large proportion of the working week. However, the Authority would be willing to provide additional support, which may help manage the time input required. This could include limiting input on cases to consultancy advice only rather than producing the delegated reports. Planning officers and technicians may also be able to visit sites to provide photographs and videos of a site in order for the contractor to avoid having to do so. We may also limit the amount of negotiation that happens on cases (this may of course mean a higher than usual proportion of refused applications).
8. Welsh Language
9. The ability to communicate in Welsh is preferred, but not essential. If any translation is required (written or spoken) then the Authority can arrange for this. The ability to speak Welsh will form 10% of the scoring criteria (further details below).
10. Brief:
11. The key output will be to assess applications for Listed Building Consent and pre-application enquiries for Listed Building Consent and either:
i. Take this through to completion of a Delegated Officer Report and any appropriate planning conditions; or
ii. Provide the advice to the appropriate officer with a view to them completing the Delegated Officer Report / conditions.
iii. Provide advice to officer with regard to any listed building enforcement cases.
iv. Providing pre-application advice relating to listed buildings.
12. In undertaking work on Listed Building Consents, it is anticipated that only basic negotiation / advising will be required between the Authority and the applicant / agent. Given the current circumstances and pressures facing the built conservation service, we wish to avoid any protracted negotiations where possible, and are aiming to provide a single response on any applications explaining any potential concerns and how to remedy them. Should this not yield the necessary changes by a specified date, applications would be refused.
13. Further details on approach taken:
14. It is not anticipated that presence at our office building will be required, although attendance at weekly or fortnightly online meetings would be recommended to discuss caseload (attendance would of course only be necessary for relevant cases).
15. Visiting the sites of all cases is not strictly necessary, and using existing photographs, the information provided in the application itself and asking for further information / photos from officers may avoid the necessity for site visits in many cases. However, the prospective candidate can lead on what they consider to be the most appropriate and efficient approach in this regard.
16. In order to access our internal filing system, the successful candidate will be provided with a laptop, and will also be provided with a National Park Authority email address to enable them to contact applicants directly to discuss their case.
17. The Authority are open to discussing any other approaches and can discuss how the best service will be provided at the appointment stage.
18. Fee and tender requirements:
19. This is a £20K (exc VAT) fixed fee commission, within which consultants are required to set out:
a. the number of days support that the Authority will receive for this fee (any extended periods of time that the contractor will not be available should also be highlighted)
b. the name and qualifications of the consultant(s) that will be providing the advice – and how this will be apportioned between different members of their team if more than one person is to be used
c. the CV and relevant experience of the consultant(s) to be used, along with track record in delivering this type of work
d. a brief description the methodology that the consultant would use to progress this work
e. the approximate time that the consultants would likely require to progress a pre validated basic LBC application that has been subject to public consultation.
20. The tender will be scored on the following criteria:
Criteria Scoring / Weighting
1. Quality of candidates, as set out in CV, including relevant experience, knowledge of the area, and the broad approach to be taken to this work.
50%
2. Value for money – this will be mainly measured through fees, but also proximity to the National Park will be a factor as this will reduce time spent on site visits, where they are required.
40%
3. Ability to provide the service in Welsh language. 10%
19. Whilst there is no fixed end date for this commission, the project will reach its end point once the budget has been fully used up. The contract could be extended subject to a few different variables, and this could be discussed prior to the end of the contract.
20. Payments:
21. The Authority are flexible how payments are made and can discuss a preferred method of invoicing and payment, but suggest an invoice could be made each time a £5K expenditure has been reached.
22. Tender Submissions:
23. The Authority would require the submission of any tender by Friday 17th November 2023, and would arrive at a decision the following week.
24. Enquiries
25. Should any prospective consultants have any enquiries, we would be happy to discuss further – please contact either:
- Iona Roberts (01766) 772213; or
- Jonathan Cawley 07900 267523
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