2.20 Consultants are routinely employed by both the public and private sector parties involved in Competitive Dialogue procurements to provide expert legal, technical and financial advice. Such support is advisable where internal skills are not available to avoid any disadvantage to the public sector. Use of advisers who understand the requirements of financiers is particularly important when funding competitions are used in conjunction with Competitive Dialogue.
2.21 Echoing the principles of Managing Public Money and recent Government policy on employing consultants, HM Treasury is keen for contracting authorities to ensure they control spend on such advice and encourage knowledge transfer to avoid future reliance where possible.