Swiss Federal Audit Office examined procurement efficiency as well as the use of services based on the selection of procurement sources in the service sector.

Audit Objectives:

To examine the efficiency of the procurement process and the use of services based on the selection of third-party companies.

Audit Criteria:

Based on 15 services procurements (expert contracts and other services) with a funding of CHF 9.5 million. The sampling frame was based on the Agency's 2018-2021 contracting report.

1. SAI identified potential to improve the procurement centralization in certain Agency departments.

2. The Agency's annual planning and targeted use of human and financial resources is carried out effectively.

3. Decentralized distribution of responsibilities in procurement leads to uncoordinated work of separate divisions of the Agency and reduced procurement efficiency.

4. No cases of inefficient or inappropriate use of resources in procurement were found in the 15 examples reviewed.

1.         SAI recommends that the procurement requirements be supplemented with specific provisions for market analysis and mandatory reference books, especially for large contractors.

2.         The SAI also recommends that consideration be given to centralizing certain procurement competencies and tasks under the Agency Organizational Development project. The measure calls for a reassignment of responsibilities without expanding the Agency's staff.

3.         Annual planning, analysis of the work performed, as well as the Agency's targeted use of human and financial resources are reflected in monthly progress reports submitted by the Agency's Directorate. From the SAI's perspective, the reports prepared allow the Agency to be fully informed about the current state of operations, as well as on government procurement performance targets.

4. Centralization of the procurement procedure has the following advantages:

• providing support through new procurement approaches for those who need it;
• increasing the efficiency of task performance through centralization of employees;
• identifying pooling opportunities through centralized contract monitoring.

The Swiss Federal Audit Office audited the activities of the Federal Statistical Office (hereinafter referred to as the Office). As part of the audit, the basic procurement documentation was evaluated.

• Declarations of impartiality were missing in all procurements audited
• The SAI positively assesses the alignment between procurement outcomes and user needs.
• The effectiveness of the services provided by the Office is not systematically verified by quantitative methods.
• The Swiss Federal Audit Office recommends that the Federal Statistical Office fully take over procurement management in the future with the GEVER — e-enterprise management system — in order to reduce the number of leaks to the media.

• SAI recommended that the Office should henceforth pay attention to the composition of evaluation teams and require declarations of impartiality from all those involved in the preparation of tender documents and evaluations.
• Following the audit, the Office revised its procurement processes and produced guidance accordingly. The Office uses GEVER, which ensures automation and continuity of business processes.
• The Swiss Federal Audit Office recommends that the Office check whether the Planned Control Reporting (PCR) mechanism can also be used for procurement planning.

The Swiss Federal Audit Office examined whether the Federal Office for Defense Procurement (hereinafter referred to as the Office) complied with the requirements aimed at preventing corruption. In addition, the SAI reviewed the implementation of the three external audit recommendations aimed at improving procurement at the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport.

Audit Criteria:

Test questions are examined based on interviews, document analysis, and practical examples. The Swiss Federal Audit Office reviewed each of the three procurement projects using procurement arbitration procedures in the areas of ground systems competencies, aviation systems, and command and control and intelligence systems

• Due to the use of HERMES (a Swiss methodology created in 1975 for projects typically related to information technology. HERMES provides template “scenarios” indicating responsible persons and a step-by-step breakdown, which greatly increases the speed of planning), which is an established project management methodology, the procurement process is unified, which helps to systematically counter corruption.
• The Office has the tools necessary to prevent corruption. In addition to HERMES, these include the Four Eyes Principle  and the distribution of functions between departments.

• SAI recommends that the Office regularly and mandatorily brief its staff involved in the procurement process on compliance and corruption prevention practices.
• SAI recommends that the Office verify the completeness of information provided by internal and external staff to avoid any self-interest and adverse events.