Compliance and governance assurance through SCAPE frameworks

We are committed to providing the best experience and project outcomes for our clients. Beyond the legal requirements of us as a procurement authority, we have designed our frameworks to deliver value for money, efficiency, sustainability and a positive impact on the community.

Since 2022, we have audited 25% of projects commissioned through SCAPE, which have a combined value of £1,243m.

Through our dedicated Audit Team, the processes, risk, controls and governance within our frameworks is reviewed, to ensure delivery partners are maintaining the highest level of compliance in accordance with their framework responsibilities and our requirements.

The Audit Team completes regular in-depth and independent audits. This audit process provides a robust system which enables us to check, and where necessary, challenge compliance, so that we can evidence best practice and value for money at every stage of a project.

Our auditing process provides an in-depth review of the processes, outcomes and performance of the call-off and delivery process for projects which have been commissioned through our frameworks.

It begins with obtaining supporting project evidence and documentation, which we use to review whether key framework actions were completed.

We then check and verify the project costs and all fees, rates and charges including people rates and design fees are recalculated to determine if these were applied correctly and if they are in accordance with our commercial model.

Project audits also enable us to review the delivery partner's approach to communication, by reviewing whether key project information was shared clearly and consistently and that the client remained informed throughout.

As part of our audit process we ensure the highest level of commercial compliance by reviewing all financial elements on that project. From inception to completion, every stage of a project is reviewed against the delivery partner's key commitments and deliverables in line with the requirements set out in our Framework Process Map and Method of Operation, with supporting evidence checked and validated at each stage.

Our audits involve a high-level review of key project documentation to ensure that it was completed appropriately and our Data Quality Audits focus on ensuring that data provided by the delivery partner was recorded accurately and enabled the project's progress to be tracked.

Project outcomes, as evidenced by the declarations made on the delivery partner's KPI return, are reviewed against the evidence provided. As part of this, an independent social value review may also take place, which will be undertaken by Social Value Portal if required.

We are committed to maintaining the highest quality of governance and assurance for you and you stakeholders and will continue to ensure that projects delivered through SCAPE are compliant and meet your expectations for responsible and transparent procurement.