Training the Trainers/2013 review of the tender

At the meeting of 8 January 2013 the Board decided to ask an independent volunteer to perform a short review of tendering and contract issues surrounding the Train the Trainer program. This page sets out the results of that review, and the actions and changes that the CE and Secretary are proposing to make as a result.

Review results

Findings from Independent reviewer

1. That there is no evidence to suggest that the tender process was not carried out in an open, fair and transparent manner.
2. That there is no evidence to suggest that any trustee was in a position of an undeclared conflict of interest.
3. That the use of the tender document as the de facto contract was understandable in the circumstances but should now be replaced with a separate contract – see recommendations.
4. That there is no evidence to suggest that the trustees, volunteers and staff involved were not acting in good faith to ensure good quality training that was also value for money.

Recommendations

1. That declarations of interest must be made public, and any person with a relevant declaration must recuse from any procurement decision. The fact that these recusals have taken place must also be made public.
2. That records of all communications with, or about, tenderers and contractors should be retained for at least three years following the termination of the contracts.
3. That no event should be publicly advertised if budget approval has not been given, unless the advertisement clearly marks the event as being provisional or subject to change.
4. That future Train the Trainers events should have a specific agreed contract.
5. That all successful tenders for services over a threshold of £5k should have a contract (or contracts) signed by a WMUK representative with sufficient authority to sign, and by the contractor.
6. That no contract for services involving tenders and over a threshold of £5k should be signed unless its terms and conditions have been accepted as suitable by WMUK.
7. That the draft contract should be used for the next Train the Trainers course, providing its suitability has been accepted.
8. That the Train the Trainers programme be reviewed by the Chief Executive with the advice and support of the Education Committee, and if necessary the tender process be repeated.

Reviewer’s note

I am a non-admin editor of English Wikipedia (User:Bazonka). I have no direct involvement with Wikimedia UK, although I am a member. I have expressed an interest in attending the third Train the Trainer event, but I was not involved in, and was unaware of, any of the previous discussions regarding the tendering and organisation of any of these events. I have no affiliation with any political party. This review is limited by what I have seen.

Dan Haigh, 14 January 2013

Response

We [JD & MP] thank Dan for conducting the review, and providing the findings and recommendations. We [JD & MP] plan to propose implementing changes to our policies and procedures to take into account the recommendations. Our [JD & MP] responses to the individual recommendations are:

1. This is covered by the Conflict of Interest policy; WMUK will be reviewing this in the near future based on the governance review, and we [JD & MP] will also take into account this recommendation while doing so.
2. We [JD & MP] will propose to revise our finance policy to incorporate this recommendation.
3. The office will ensure that public event pages are clearly marked as draft where they are not confirmed.
4. The drafted agreement for the February TtT course will be reused and improved upon for future TtT courses.
5. We [JD & MP] will propose to revise our finance policy to incorporate this recommendation.
6. We [JD & MP] will propose to revise our finance policy to incorporate this recommendation.
7. Jon has been given the authority to sign the contract as might be renegotiated.
8. Jon and the education committee will jointly review the program in April prior to additional TtT events taking place after February.

Jon Davies (Chief Exec), Mike Peel (Secretary)