Research Commissioning

New in Research Commissioning Carol Goldstone Associates have now completed the work on the Nuffield Foundation funded study on research commissioning. The full report entitled Different Ways of Procuring Social Research in Government is available here (pdf 309k). A shorter report with a focus on implications and recommendations is available here (pdf 248k). The SRA’s response to the EU consultation paper on the Modernisation of EU Public Procurement Policy is also available here (pdf 90k). This was put together by SRA member John Wicks, with the involvement of other SRA members including Alan Hedges and Janet Lewis. To read the EU Consultation document, click here (pdf 311k). Current Commission Project 2010 The SRA has had a long-standing interest in the way research is commissioned starting with a conference entitled Can you buy it off the shelf? Alternative methods of commissioning research, the proceedings of which were published by the SRA in January 1985. Ten years later, in 1994, a Good Practice Guide on Commissioning social research was published and a revised version was produced in November 2002. This guide gives practical advice on issues relating to commissioning research, including different types of competition, running competitive tenders, and ways in which research buyers and suppliers can best work together. Click here to download a copy (pdf 225k) of the current good practice guide to commissioning social research. Some sections of the guide, such as some of the EU requirements, are now out of date and the SRA is planning an update. But the fundamental principles of what constitutes `good practice’ in commissioning remain the same. In 2004 the SRA decided to take forward some further work on commissioning and an Initiative was set up, aimed at improving practice as a contribution to improving the quality of research that is carried out. The Initiative is run on the basis of a mailing list of interested people who are invited to one or two meetings a year to discuss different issues relating to commissioning. The main focus has been on providing well-grounded information to commissioners about good practice and on the development of training on commissioning. Two early successes were: The encouragement of the development by the Office for Government Commerce (OGC) and Government Social Research Unit (GSRU) of some joint guidelines on Procuring Social Research in Government, available on www.civilservice.gov.uk the development of some curriculum guidelines for training in research commissioning through a grant from the ESRC. The report, 2006 Curriculum Guidelines for Training Programmes on Research Commissioning by Janie Percy-Smith & Alison Darlow (Policy Research Institute) can be downloaded here (pdf 93k) As a result of this work, training courses on research commissioning are now regularly included in the SRA’s training programme. A wide range of other topics have also been discussed including the Alcatel judgement, reverse auctions, the implications of the shift to full economic costs for university research, EU definitions of research, and issues concerning VAT and research. A note giving more details of the Initiative’s work can be downloaded here. Over the last couple of years there have been a number of discussions about Framework Agreements, to understand more about the way they operated in practice and the pros and cons of this method of commissioning. Members of the Initiative commented on a draft of the GSRU’s Framework Agreement guidance for Government Social Research. The final version, produced in 2009, is available at www.civilservice.gov.uk and incorporated some of the Group’s suggestions. The information in the Guidance is largely based on Office of Government Commerce (OGC) guidance, though discussions were also held with a small number of research and procurement staff in departments. The SRA felt there was a need to build on this work by carrying out a small piece of research to examine the procurement of social research in government including a comparison of organisations using different Framework Agreements and more traditional project-based methods. Funding was successfully obtained from the Nuffield Foundation at the end of 2009, for which the SRA is most grateful. Following a competitive process, Carol Goldstone Associates were appointed to carry out the work which is due for completion in November 2010. Details of the project can be downloaded here. Anyone interested in joining the Initiative’s mailing list and attending meetings should contact Janet Lewis, via the SRA office.