The Department stated that at the time of the procurement, it appeared that ICF had a ready-made system that had already been used on over 100 grant schemes in the US and Canada, and which could quickly and cheaply be amended to suit the Department’s needs.79 The Department did not follow up with any of the organisations contracting with ICF as it felt appropriate referencing would have been completed when ICF were qualified for the Crown Commercial Service framework it used for the procureme...

The Department stated that at the time of the procurement, it appeared that ICF had a ready-made system that had already been used on over 100 grant schemes in the US and Canada, and which could quickly and cheaply be amended to suit the Department’s needs.79 The Department did not follow up with any of the organisations contracting with ICF as it felt appropriate referencing would have been completed when ICF were qualified for the Crown Commercial Service framework it used for the procurement.80 However, given ICF were proposing to deliver substantially faster than the other bidders, the Department should have challenged ICF further as to w Type: conclusion | Number: 29 | Response status: not_addressed Government response: 5.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 5.2 The department carries out due diligence checks at all stages of a procurement and considers in-house solutions and delivery through public sector bodies, as recommended