Provision of consultancy service

PROVISION OF CONSULTANCY SERVICE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POLICY IMPACT ASSESSMENT RATING SYSTEM IN VIETNAM ATTACHMENT 1 – RFP COVER AND INSTRUCTIONS

On behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as represented by British Embassy Vietnam, we are looking for a supplier who can provide consultancy services for the development of a policy impact assessment rating system for Vietnam. Further details on the requirement are set out in the section Statement of Service Requirements below.
Please include in your reply a nominated point of contact with telephone, e-mail and postal address details.
The estimated contract duration is for services to be delivered on or before 30 September 2021.
A Purchase Order number for this requirement will be provided.
Your quote should remain valid for 90 days from the required date of receipt and all costs should be stated in Vietnam Dong. Your quotation should be inclusive of all costs.
You should submit the quotation before or on 10 January 2021 at 12.00 PM. Late bids will not be accepted.
Send your response to nguyen.loan@fcdo.gov.uk and use the title: Consultancy Application in Vietnam
If you have any questions, please send your queries to nguyen.loan@fcdo.gov.uk. Answers will be shared with all bidders. Use the title: Enquiry about Consultancy Service in Vietnam.
The maximum budget for this project is 200,000,000 VND, inclusive of VAT. 10. This Request for Proposal does not imply any commitment on the part of the FCDO.
The UK Government operates a Government Security Classification (GSC) scheme. All potential suppliers should make themselves aware this. The following link to the Gov.uk website provides information on the GSC - https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-security-classifications

ATTACHMENT 2 – STATEMENT OF SERVICE REQUIREMENTS

BACKGROUND

The ASEAN Regulatory Reform Programme is a strand of the ASEAN Economic Reform Programme, which is part of the UK Government’s Prosperity Fund. The Prosperity Fund works with partner countries to promote the economic reform and development needed for inclusive growth and poverty reduction. In Vietnam, the regulatory reform strand is implemented by Regulatory Delivery International (RDI), part of the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (UK BEIS). In Vietnam, the Department of General Affairs on Legislative Development under the Ministry of Justice has been identified as one of RDI/BEIS’ key counterparts. The Ministry of Justice is the key body in the country at a central level in charge of the evaluation and assessment of the impact of (draft) legislative documents, and is also in charge of building the capacity and providing training on Policy Impact Assessment (PIA) for other departments at both central and local level. BEIS/FCDO and MOJ exchanged official cooperation letters in 2019 in which it has been mutually agreed that we will provide technical assistance to support MOJ in capacity building of government officials on PIA, and strengthening the quality and scrutiny of Policy Impact Assessment (PIA) in the country. PIA is a framework to support the development and review of new regulations and legislation, supporting evidence-based, effective policymaking. Applying PIA in the policymaking process can increase the level of transparency, accountability, monitoring, compliance, and quality of regulation for the benefit of government efficiency and competitiveness. Under such cooperation, in 2019, two pieces of training on PIA for government officials at both central and local level were implemented in provinces in Vietnam, in order to raise awareness of PIA to government officials at both central and local level of Vietnam; and train the Government officials of Vietnam on PIA, with a view to improving knowledge and practical application of PIA in their daily jobs. In July 2020, the UK Government co-organised a workshop is to share the UK’s experience of the development and implementation of a Policy Impact Assessment rating system with the Vietnamese Government and to explore the potential applicability of a similar system in Vietnam. The development of such a system in Vietnam, through specific criteria and legal basis for the assessment of PIA in Vietnam, would not only streamline the scrutiny of PIA in Vietnam, but also enhance the transparency of the policy-making process as well as strengthen the accountability amongst regulators at all levels. As a result, the MOJ has agreed to develop a similar PIA rating system in Vietnam. Therefore, a local consultant is needed to work alongside MOJ and the UK experts, in order to develop and support the implementation of a PIA rating system in Vietnam.

DETAILS OF WORK SCOPE

The expected output of the work is a PIA rating manual (“manual”) setting out the rationale and criteria to assess the quality of PIA reports by government agencies. Therefore, the scope of work of the local consultant will include the following, but not limited to: - Lead the drafting of the manual in coordination with MOJ and UK experts; - Lead on technical communications with MOJ, UK experts and relevant stakeholders; - Take part in regular meetings, exchange of emails and other types of communication to facilitate coordination with MOJ and UK experts, as required; - Facilitate consultative workshops, and provide training on the manual, as required; - Prepare meeting materials, post-event/post-meeting reports, as required.

EXPECTED DELIVERABLES, TIMEFRAMES AND BUDGET

The development of the manual is expected to be completed by September 2021, including consultation workshop(s) and training(s). Therefore the consultancy service is also expected to be completed by September 2021. Below the expected deliverables and timelines by the local consultant: - 1 March 2021: Outline and structure of the manual: the consultant is expected to take lead in coordination with MOJ and UK experts, and consult other resources, to draft the outline and structure of the manual, which needs to be then mutually agreed by MOJ and UK experts. - 1 April 2021: First draft of the manual: the consultant is expected to gather information from MOJ, UK experts and other relevant sources and stakeholders to draft the first draft of the manual, to consult with UK experts and MOJ. - 1 May 2021: Second draft of the manual: Following comments by MOJ and UK experts, the local consultant is expected to incorporate the comments and recommendations, to revise and make the second draft of the manual, to consult with UK experts and MOJ. - 1 May – 15 May 2021: First Consultation workshop (for the second draft): Subject to requests by MOJ and the UK side, the local consultant shall be required to take part in consultation workshop(s) of the draft manual with wider stakeholders. If this is the case, the local consultant is expected to coordinate with the MOJ and the UK, to prepare workshop agenda, identify relevant audience, prepare workshop materials, facilitate the workshop(s), gather comments and recommendations at the workshop, to incorporate in a revision of the draft manual, in coordination with the MOJ and UK experts. The audience for the first consultation workshop is expected to be relevant government officials at the central level. - 1 June 2021: Third draft manual for consultation: Based on comments and recommendations from MOJ and UK experts and the first public consultation, the local consultant will finalise the third draft manual for the second public consultation. - 1 June – 15 June 2021: Second Consultation Workshop (for the third draft). Similar requirements for local consultants like the first consultation workshop. The audience is expected to be government officials at local level. - 30 June 2021: Finalisation of the manual for MOJ’s approval: Based on comments and recommendations gathered from public consultation(s), the local consultant is expected to take lead in coordination with the MOJ and the UK experts to finalise the manual for the MOJ for final approval and issuance. - July 2021: A launching workshop of the final manual - July – Sep 2021: Training workshop(s): Subject to approval by MOJ, and subject to requests by the MOJ and the UK side, the local consultant shall be required to attend and facilitate the training workshop(s) on the manual to government officials, including prepare training materials, and post-training report(s). 200,000,000 VND (Two hundred million Vietnam Dong Only) is the maximum total contract value assigned for this consultancy service, inclusive of all applicable government taxes and charges, professional fees, and other incidental and administrative costs, and shall be paid through two instalments. - 1 June 2021: 100,000,000 VND shall be paid upon completion of the third draft manual after the first public consultation - 15 September 2021: 100,000,000 VND shall be paid after the completion of the final manual to be submitted to MOJ for official approval, (and completion of potential trainings (should the manual be approved within this time frame).

REPORTING STRUCTURE, AND PAYMENT ARRANGEMENTS

Reporting structure: The local consultant shall be legally bound and accountable to FCDO until all the deliverables stated in this contract have been met. The local consultant shall turn over all manuals, reports, materials, references, and other relevant documents acquired through this consultancy to FCDO and MOJ, and these entities shall ensure due acknowledgment of the contributions of the local consultant. The focal contact points for submission of deliverables are as follows: UK BEIS: Nguyen Cong To Loan Nguyen.Loan@fco.gov.uk; Zoe Dayan Zoe.Dayan@fco.gov.uk Payment arrangements: The processing of payment shall only proceed upon evaluation and acceptance of the deliverables and services rendered by local consultant to FCDO through the focal contacts above-listed. Payment shall be made in two instalments as reflected under Section 3 above.

SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

− A Degree in relevant major such as Law, Public Policy, Public Administration, Economics; − Demonstrated understanding of the legal system and policy-making process of Vietnam; − Demonstrated professional expertise and practical experience in the field of policy impact assessment, policy-making and administration, preferably consultancy experience for government agencies or development organisations in policy area; − English at communication level in order to communicate with UK experts; − Must be free and clean from any pending criminal administrative charges and liabilities.

DUTY OF CARE [Note: this section is FCDO’s standard part of this document]

The Supplier(s) is responsible for the safety and well-being of their Personnel and ThirdParties affected by their activities under this contract, including appropriate security arrangements. They will also be responsible for the provision of suitable security arrangements for their domestic and business property. FCDO will share available information with the Supplier(s) on security status and developments in-country where appropriate.
The Supplier(s) is responsible for ensuring appropriate safety and security briefings for all of their Personnel working under this contract and ensuring that their Personnel register and receive a briefing as outlined above. Travel advice is also available on the FCDO website and the supplier(s) is responsible for and must ensure they (and their Personnel) are up to date with the latest position.

iii. Suppliers must develop their Tender on the basis of being fully responsible for Duty of Care. They must confirm in their Tender that:

They fully accept responsibility for Security and Duty of Care.
They understand the potential risks and have the knowledge and experience to develop an effective risk plan.
They have the capability to manage their Duty of Care responsibilities throughout the life of the contract.

Acceptance of responsibility must be supported with evidence of capability (no more than two A4 pages and the Project Team reserves the right to clarify any aspect of this evidence).
In providing evidence the Supplier(s) should consider the following questions:

a) Have you completed an initial assessment of potential risks that demonstrates your knowledge and understanding, and are you satisfied that you understand the risk management implications (not solely relying on information provided by the Project Team)? b) Have you prepared an outline plan that you consider appropriate to manage these risks at this stage (or will you do so if you are awarded the contract) and are you confident/comfortable that you can implement this effectively? c) Have you ensured or will you ensure that your staff are appropriately trained (including specialist training where required) before they are deployed and will you ensure that ongoing training is provided where necessary? d) Have you an appropriate mechanism in place to monitor risk on a live/ on-going basis (or will you put one in place if you are awarded the contract)? e) Have you ensured or will you ensure that your staff are provided with and have access to suitable equipment and will you ensure that this is reviewed and provided on an on-going basis? f) Have you appropriate systems in place to manage an emergency/ incident if one arises?