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INVITE TO TENDER – 18/04/2024
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 in addition to help provide mentoring for a Built Conservation Planning Officer (Graduate Trainee).
3. The Authority has one part time Historic Environment Planning Officer within the team on a fixed term contract which comes to an end in July 2024. The Authority will be advertising the post for a full-time officer shortly in hope of recruiting, however from previous experiences the Authority are concerned about a challenging recruitment environment and our ability to recruit a suitably qualified and experienced candidate on a full-time basis. This contract would be to fill in for a full-time post of a Historic Environment Planning Officer for a period of up to 12 months, with an option to extend the contract for a further 12 months. Support is required from the 3rd June 2024 to enable some cross-over with the current Historic Environment Planning Officer and to coincide with the start date of the Graduate Trainee’s contract.
4. Nature of Work and Case Load.
5. There would be two parts to the work. The main bulk of the work would comprise providing specialist advice to case officers as a consultee on applications for LBC and enforcement cases and pre-application enquiries relating to listed buildings. Specialist advice will also be required for any other type of applications or general enquiries that may have an effect on the historic built environment. It is anticipated that roughly 70% of the contractor’s time will be dedicated to this work.
6. The remaining 30% of time will be providing mentoring to a Built Conservation Planning Officer (Graduate Trainee). The Graduate Trainee will be attending a masters degree on a 2 year-part time basis (expected to start September 2024) whilst also working part time for the Authority. The main responsibilities of the Graduate Trainee is to assist the Historic Environment Planning Officer with:
• providing specialist advice on LBC applications, pre-applications enquiries and any other type of applications relating to listed buildings or the historic built environment;
• assessing Heritage Impact Assessments and providing advice on their content in order to support the above requirements;
• providing specialist advice on Listed Building enforcement cases;
• provide advice for the preparation of LBC and Listed Building Enforcement appeal statements.
The Graduate Trainee will be expected to take on a small caseload of applications and pre-application enquiries with guidance and advice from the successful contractor.
7. This contract would be to fill in for a full-time post of a Historic Environment Planning Officer for a period of up to 12 months – therefore in practice the successful contractor would potentially be required for a large proportion of the working week. Should the Authority be successful in recruiting a permanent Built Conservation Planning Officer within the 12 month period, the Authority may terminate the contract before the 12 months are up – although would provide at least 2 months notice if this were to happen.
8. The Graduate Trainee and Planning Officers may be able to carry out site visits to provide photographs and videos of a site in order for the contractor to avoid having to do so in some cases. Case officers may also limit the amount of negotiation that happens on cases where the proposal is not acceptable (this may of course mean a higher than usual proportion of refused applications).
9. Welsh Language
10. 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).
11. Brief:
12. The key output will be to:
i. provide advice to the appropriate officer with a view to them completing the delegated officer report;
ii. recommend appropriate conditions where relevant;
iii. provide advice to the appropriate officer with regard to any listed building enforcement cases;
iv. provide advice to the appropriate officer on pre-application enquiries relating to listed buildings;
v. provide support and mentoring to the Graduate Trainee – including brief update meetings every 1-2 weeks.
13. In undertaking work on Listed Building Consents, it is anticipated that only basic negotiation / advising will be required between the Authority’s appointed case officer 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.
14. Further details on approach taken:
15. Regular attendance in person at our office building would be beneficial to meet with the Graduate Trainee to start in conjunction with online meetings twice a week or weekly. The successful candidate and the Graduate Trainee can lead on what they consider to be the most appropriate and efficient approach moving forward in the longer-term to provide the support required.
16. Visiting the application 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.
17. 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 if required.
18. The Authority are open to discussing any other approaches and can discuss how the best service will be provided at the appointment stage.
19. Fee and tender requirements:
20. This is a £100K (exc VAT) fixed fee commission, within which consultants are required to set out:
a. the number of days of 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 mentoring/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 of the methodology that the consultant would use to progress this work;
e. the approximate time that the consultants would likely require to assess a pre validated basic LBC application that has been subject to public consultation.
21. The tender will be scored on the following criteria:
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%
22.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 or if we are successful in recruiting a full-time Historic Environment Planning Officer, whichever occurs first. Should we be successful in appointing an Officer, the Authority will provide 2 months notice to the contractor that the contract will end. If we are not successful in appointing an Officer the Authority would consider extending the contract for a further 12 months.
23.Payments:
24. 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, or monthly.
25.Tender Submissions:
26.The Authority would require the submission of any tender by 10th May 2024, and would arrive at a decision the following week.
27.Enquiries
28. 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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