4.5.14 In the brief, advisers should be asked to respond in writing to a series of queries and to add any pertinent observations of their own on the project and its structure (although responses should be as short as possible). These queries should include the following:
• details and background of the firm, partnership, etc (to the extent that they are relevant);
• details, including references, of the 3 most recent PFI/public-private partnerships projects in the sector, and/or up to 3 more projects from similar fields which demonstrate ability in the required areas of expertise;
• similarly, details of relevant experience of active project team members (eg experience in structuring payment streams and evaluation of risk transfer and value for money), including full CVs of all team members;
• terms and conditions of contract, especially fees;
• how bidders see their role in relation to that of the procuring body;
• resourcing proposals (how many people, what type, what level); and
• details of any actual or potential conflicts of interest or investigation of any sort by the authority.
4.5.15 Procurers will need to ensure that if the EC public procurement rules apply then information is requested at the correct stage in the competition i.e. at the pre-qualification stage or at the tender stage. As previously stated, these two stages need to be kept separate.