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Council Officers Questionnaire
CBM 7513 Questionnaire - Council Officers
Discussion guide based on open-ended questioning (2 hour maximum interview length)
INTERVIEWER - Where necessary, please check whether changes to school menus etc. are due to the local foods for school pilot, or to other ongoing specific schemes, such as Hungry for Success or Food for Life.
Background on the planning of the pilot scheme
Q1. Where did the idea for the local foods in schools pilot scheme originate? (What were the policy drivers both inside and outside the council?)
Q2. How did it develop to be put forward to the Council?
Q3. How was permission obtained to go ahead with the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
Q4. Where did the go-ahead for the local foods in schools pilot scheme come from?
The tendering process to Schools in summer 2005
INTERVIEWER NOTE: AS THE TENDER PROCESS SPLIT INTO DIFFERENT LOTS FOR THE DIFFERENT FOOD TYPES, ENSURE THAT YOU COVER ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LOTS (FOOD TYPES) IN THIS SECTION. FOOD TYPES ARE
Q5. What was the overall plan/process for the local foods in schools pilot tendering process? (Focus on the plan at this stage, returning to what actually happened later)
Q6. What happened in practice? What problems, if any, were encountered during the tendering process?
Q7. How was the invitation to tender drawn up? (Who was involved from inside and outside the council?)
Q8. Were any producers consulted in drawing up the invitation to tender?
Q9. How was the expression of interest in tendering publicised to potential tenderers?
Q10. Were any other public bodies involved in distributing or publicising the tender?
PROBE to cover the number of expressions of interest, number invited to submit tenders, number of tenders received, and quality of EOIs and tenders received.
Q11. How satisfied were you with the level of response to the tenders?
Q12. What drove the award of contracts to the successful tenderers? What were the key criteria? Did you have a weighting for the evaluation? Eg Price 20%, Quality 40%
Q13. Who evaluated the tenders for the pilot within the Council? Was it the same personnel as was involved pre pilot?
Q14. What qualities did the successful tenderers show? What additional qualities might you look for if a greater number of tenders had been received?
Q15How valuable are assurance schemes to suppliers looking to supply food to East Ayrshire schools in the local foods in schools pilot scheme? How big a factor were they in deciding on successful tenderers? (Food Safety issues, effects of press reports about E-coli etc
Q16. What aspects of the tendering process worked best? What approach would you recommend to other councils considering conducting the same sort of process?
PROBE TO COVER:
Publicising and distributing the call for tenders,
content of the ITT, way it is structured, should ingredients be split from distribution etc
event to meet tenderers and explain the pilot scheme to them,
criteria used to judge tenders,
selection process,
time allowed for the whole process,
administration,
workload
Q17. What would be done differently next time in a similar local foods in schools scheme (whether by East Ayrshire or another authority)?
Cover similar topics (if relevant) as previous question
EFFECT OF THE SCHEME
Q18. How much more expensive are school meals as a result of implementation of the local foods in schools pilot in comparison with before? Please provide analysisQ19. What would you foresee the extra administrative and time burden of the pilot scheme to be, if any burden at all?
Q19a. Who will be most affected in the Council, and how?
Q19b. Who will be most affected in schools, and how? (Try to explore the admin cost implications such as processing extra invoices. Have they got a figure for processing each invoice? What is the future role of e-procurement in reducing costs?)
[POST-PILOT INTERVIEW ONLY] Q19c. How have the total costs to the council (including labour and overheads) changed as a result of the local foods in schools scheme?
Q20. How will (has) the local foods in schools pilot scheme practically help the council in meeting its sustainability objectives?
Q21. How will (has) the local foods in schools pilot scheme practically help(ed) the council in meeting its other objectives?
PROBE to cover economic and social objectives, including employment and the Council's Community Plan
Q22. What was the estimated cost of ingredients per meal before the October 2005 contract awards?
[POST-PILOT INTERVIEW ONLY] Q23. What is the estimated cost of ingredients after the October 2005 contract awards?
Q24. What changes in ways of preparing, cooking or serving food would (have)you most like to see implemented in the schools taking part in the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
[POST-PILOT INTERVIEW ONLY] Q24a. How much progress have they been able to make in putting these changes in place?
Q24b.Which of the changes made would you give greatest priority in advocating to other schools outside the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
MOVING THE SCHEME FORWARD
Q25. What steps have been taken by the council to get catering staff and teaching staff to support the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
Q26. What steps have been taken by the council to get parents and children to support the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
Q27. The Soil Association's Food For Life target is 30% Organic/ 50% locally produced/ 75% unprocessed food in schools. How far do you think the current local foods in schools pilot scheme has gone in meeting these aims?
Q27a. Are the aims achievable? Can the targets be sustained? Should they be higher? Can they be rolled out across East Ayrshire?
Q27b. What do you think will help or hinder the process from producers' perspectives?
Q27c. And what will help or hinder the process from your councils perspective?
Q28. What steps do you envisage in extending the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
Q28a. What support would you be looking for from inside and outside the Council? (eg Members, Chief Exec, Parents)
Q29. What issues could there be in translating the lessons of the local foods in schools scheme from primary to secondary schools, and implementing them in the latter?
Q30. What lessons have been, or could be, learned from similar local foods in schools pilot schemes elsewhere in Scotland?
Q31. Do you have any final comments regarding the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
CBM 7513 - Council Officers Interview -
Discussion guide based on open-ended questioning (2 hour maximum interview length)
POST-PILOT VERSION -02/03/06
INTERVIEWER - Where necessary, please check whether changes to school menus etc. are believed to be due to the local foods for school pilot, or to other ongoing specific schemes, such as Hungry for Success or Food for Life.
The tendering process to Schools in summer 2005
INTERVIEWER NOTE: AS THE TENDER PROCESS SPLIT INTO DIFFERENT LOTS FOR THE DIFFERENT FOOD TYPES, ENSURE THAT YOU COVER ANY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN LOTS (FOOD TYPES) IN THIS SECTION.
Q1. First, just recapping on some aspects of introducing local and organic food into East Ayrshire primary schools in 2005 and before, please could you confirm some of the key stages and dates in the process, highlighting the number of schools involved at each stage?
Q2. Please could you explain how you divided food types into the 9 lots specified for tender (for example, why was cheese separated from dairy products? was there any temptation to keep fruit separate from veg?)?
Q3. Would you expect to use the same division if you were to repeat the process?
Q4. Do you think the same division would be suitable for other local authorities?
Q5. [IF THIS HASN'T ALREADY BEEN COVERED - ] Within each of the lots, were all existing suppliers directly informed of the new tendering process in 2005?
Q6. If this pilot scheme were to be broadened, or repeated on the same scale elsewhere, what other public bodies would you recommend be involved in distributing or publicising the tender?
Q7, What other activities do you believe would help to promote and advertise the tender more broadly, within the restrictions of EU tendering regulations? For example, looking at one simple measure - the number and choice of newspapers where adverts were placed - would you use more or different publications to publicise the tender in any similar future project?
Q8. What else could be done to increase (i) the number of requests for tender details, (ii) the number of EOIs actually received, (iii) attendance at any meetings to promote the tender and deal with suppliers' queries, and (iv) the number of tenders actually received?
Q9. Specifically, what more could be done to encourage suppliers to seek external advice and help in preparing their tender?
Q10. How might the overall tendering process and subsequent support best be adapted to suit different lots?
Q11. The assessment criteria for tenders were set at price 50%, and quality 50%, the latter broken down into:
Ability to meet supply deadlines 15%,
Quality and range of foods 15%,
Food handling arrangement and facilities 10%,
Use of resources 10%.
With hindsight, would you recommend changing or adding to this mix if the process were to be repeated here or elsewhere? [IF SO, ASK How?]
Q12. Have you contacted suppliers, or do you have any plans to contact them, to assess their own views of the tendering process and possible improvements that could be made before an further round of contract renewals or tendering?
EFFECT OF THE SCHEME
Q13. To the best of your knowledge, how does uptake of free schools meals compare now with the situation (a) 12 months ago, (b) 3 months ago before the new local supplier tenders were awarded?
Q14a. How much more expensive are school meals now as a result of the implementation of the recent local foods in schools pilot, in comparison with the situation before? Please provide your analysis.
Q14b. How have the total costs to the council (including labour and overheads) changed as a result of the local foods in schools scheme?
Q15. What is the estimated cost of ingredients after the contract awards, in late 2005?
Q16. Do you perceive there to be any ongoing extra administrative and time burden of the pilot scheme on schools, or on the Council? IF SO, please explain what the burden is and how it has come about.
Q17. Outside school staff themselves, who has the scheme most affected among the Council's staff, and how?
Q18. Who has been most affected in schools, and how? (Try to explore the admin cost implications such as processing extra invoices. Have they got a figure for processing each invoice? What is the future role of e-procurement in reducing costs?)
Q19. To date, how has the local foods in schools pilot scheme practically helped the council in meeting its sustainability objectives?
Q20. To date, how has the local foods in schools pilot scheme practically help(ed) the council in meeting its other objectives?
PROBE to cover economic and social objectives, including employment and the Council's Community Plan
Q21. Thinking about changes schools have been able to make in their preparation, cooking and serving of food, which of the changes made would you give greatest priority in advocating to other schools outside the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
MOVING THE SCHEME FORWARD
Q22. What further steps have been taken by the council since November 2005 to get catering staff and teaching staff to support the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
Q23. What further steps have been taken by the council since November 2005 to get parents and children to support the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
Q24. The Soil Association's Food For Life target is 30% Organic/ 50% locally produced/ 75% unprocessed food in schools. To the best of your knowledge, now that the new suppliers are in place, how far do you think the current local foods in schools pilot scheme has gone in meeting these aims?
Q25. As things stand, and based on experience of the pilot tendering scheme in the second half of 2005, what steps would you envisage in extending the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
Q26. What steps would you take to get parents' support for continued, were they to be asked to subsidise the scheme for, say, 20p per meal?
Q27. What other support would you be looking for from inside and outside the Council to maintain the scheme in its current form in the 11 schools? ( e.g. Members, Chief Exec, schools)
Q28. What other support would you be looking for from inside and outside the Council to extend the scheme across all primary schools in East Ayrshire? ( e.g. Members, Chief Exec, schools) What economies of scale could there be in the long term?
Q29. Since awarding contracts for this pilot scheme, what lessons have you learned from similar local foods in schools pilot schemes elsewhere in Scotland or other parts of the UK?
Q30. How helpful have the awards and publicity given to the East Ayrshire local food in schools campaign been in making it a success? Which aspects have been most visible to school staff, parents, children, suppliers or others? Which aspects have been most important in aiding the success of the project?
Q31. Do you have any final comments regarding the local foods in schools pilot scheme?
THANK AND CLOSE
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