2.27 The Agency, from July 1994, kept IT services staff informed about the future of the IT services unit and, in July 1996, established a staff consultative group to advise the procurement team about staff related matters. Senior management did not consider this amount of staff participation enough to relieve perceived concerns staff had about the partnership. Just before the completion of the full specification in January 1997, the Agency's senior management granted all IT services staff within the Agency the opportunity to comment on the document. This additional consultation the Agency considered necessary to provide reassurance to key staff involved.
2.28 This review delayed the procurement process by two months (Appendix 3). As with the outline specification, the Agency had to inform the potential bidders that they were postponing the issue of the full specification. This delay was necessary for staff to review the document and the procurement team to process formally all of the nearly 2,000 raised comments.