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Ostensibly this is great news; indeed, it probably IS great news! But does anyone have any concerns about possible implications? Let us know if you do.
Environment Agency Awards Fisheries Contract to the Angling Trust
- Thread starter FishingMagic
- Start date
thecrow
Well-known member
Can someone provide the details behind this please?
Cliff Hatton
Well-known member
Info requested, Crow.
thecrow
Well-known member
Thank you.
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
Mr Cholmondeley-Corker (PaSC)
Senior Member
So, the AT were 'awarded' the contract by the EA. Did the EA put the contract out to tender? Were there other contenders potentially up for it? How many quotes did the EA get?
I would tend to agree with Matt's post above.
Taken from the article:
"Applicants were then asked to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire to ensure they were suitable to be formally invited to tender for the work. "
So, will the EA publish the results of the pre-qualification and the tender details as any other government funded organisation is supposed to do when using money from their budget
Unless this contract was "won" by competitive tender then it is really little more than a "grant" . . . . . I would imagine
Taken from the article:
"Applicants were then asked to complete a pre-qualification questionnaire to ensure they were suitable to be formally invited to tender for the work. "
So, will the EA publish the results of the pre-qualification and the tender details as any other government funded organisation is supposed to do when using money from their budget
Unless this contract was "won" by competitive tender then it is really little more than a "grant" . . . . . I would imagine
thecrow
Well-known member
I am a bit confused, (not unusual) does this mean that the AT are being paid by the EA to carry out some of the duties that the EA should be doing?
If the contract is worth £4 million over the next 4 years depending on rod licence sales then that must mean that the AT are getting some of the none AT members EA licence money.
Seems to me that along with the increase in the cost of a rod licence that will almost certainly come from the talks held between the EA and the AT the EA are gifting money from rod licence holders that will not join the AT and give them any of their money, it stinks more than a Bream anglers net bag.
If the contract is worth £4 million over the next 4 years depending on rod licence sales then that must mean that the AT are getting some of the none AT members EA licence money.
Seems to me that along with the increase in the cost of a rod licence that will almost certainly come from the talks held between the EA and the AT the EA are gifting money from rod licence holders that will not join the AT and give them any of their money, it stinks more than a Bream anglers net bag.
peter crabtree
AKA Simon, 1953 - 2022 (RIP)
The EA also get funding from tax payers money so AT none(sic) members and and non rod licence holders are indirectly funding the AT too.. Lol...
The bad one
Well-known member
Peter I’m neither arguing it’s right or wrong, here just that that’s the way it’s done in officialdom circles right across the board from local councils to Government. The term used for this is “Approved Contractors List.” To become a AC and get on the list you, the applicant, fill in the pre-qualification questionnaire, which then shows you have the capacity to deliver the services you may be asked to tendering for.
It’s designed to weed out those who don’t have the capacity to deliver the services and are making a speculative bid, only for it to go tits up 12 + months later.
And this happens more often than you’d expect. Two recent cases I can think of is Kids Company and an ATOS contract with DWP.
I guess you call it in your field, doing due diligence on the contractors.
The pre-qualification questionnaire would have many questions on it designed to show those assessing it X meets the standards the body is looking for.
Also given the monetary value to this contract it would have to be advertised and offered right across the EU under the rules of the EU for public contracts.
As it’s now a signed deal all the documents related to it should be open to public scrutiny if asked for. Failure on the part of the EA to reveal those documents to anybody asking for them should be challenged under FOI Act.
Graham Elliott 1
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Silly me I thought part of the AT remit was to challenge the EA when it did not perform adequately.
Obviously its the other way round.
Graham
Obviously its the other way round.
Graham
bennygesserit
Well-known member
Matched funding from Sport England very clever ! Also makes the AT , undeniably a very significant organisation.
stu_the_blank
Well-known member
Well, whether you like it or not, as far as the Govt is concerned the ATr represent us all, so hardly surprising that the funding should be routed through them.
Stu
bennygesserit
Well-known member
How do you get more youngsters into angling and in particular how do you get a significant numbers of youngsters into the sport. An event here and there might attract a few but for greater numbers you need an infrastructure of volunteers.
thecrow
Well-known member
Key elements of the contract include:
•providing expert advice to clubs and fishery owners on how to identify and secure additional funding
Shouldn't the AT be doing this for member organisations already?
•improving facilities at fisheries and clubs for anglers
How are they to achieve this? it takes money to do this type of thing.
•encouraging take-up among junior anglers and address the recent decline in this age group
Isnt this one of the AT objectives anyway?
•retaining and recruiting more anglers to go fishing
As above
•exploring options to develop the voluntary bailiff scheme which has been piloted in the South East
Isnt this already being done?
•working with enforcement partners (including the police), club and fishery owners to clamp down on angling-related rural crime.
Nothing new already being done.
Seems to me that all of the key objectives of this contract are all things that the AT should be doing already or are already doing so why has this contract been awarded to the AT?
Couldn't be the EA passing the buck to the AT trying to get duties that should be carried out by the EA done on the cheap could it?
How much will the rod licence fee be increased to cover this contract?
Last edited:
bennygesserit
Well-known member
That is exactly it , trying to get more for your money by attracting matching funding from Sport England , so the EA is paying for it anyway and the AT did not have the resources.
thecrow
Well-known member
Sorry Benny I cant see anything in that piece that says that Sport England will match whatever the AT are getting from the EA.
As part of The Whole Sports Plan angling will get 1.8 million from Sport England for the period 2013--- 2017, as we are now into 2015 some of that cash must already have been paid to the AT.
This is the EA ducking its responsibilities by farming them out to the AT at the expense of anglers because sure as eggs are eggs after the consultations between the EA and the AT licence fees are set to rise with anglers getting a poorer service than they should because of cutbacks.
Will the AT be putting more bailiffs on the bank to control fish thefts? I doubt it other than the volunteer scheme which the AT is already involved with. What else is likely to improve due to this contract that isn't part of the EA and AT mandate already?
In short I believe that between them both they have stitched anglers up with this passing the buck.
As part of The Whole Sports Plan angling will get 1.8 million from Sport England for the period 2013--- 2017, as we are now into 2015 some of that cash must already have been paid to the AT.
This is the EA ducking its responsibilities by farming them out to the AT at the expense of anglers because sure as eggs are eggs after the consultations between the EA and the AT licence fees are set to rise with anglers getting a poorer service than they should because of cutbacks.
Will the AT be putting more bailiffs on the bank to control fish thefts? I doubt it other than the volunteer scheme which the AT is already involved with. What else is likely to improve due to this contract that isn't part of the EA and AT mandate already?
In short I believe that between them both they have stitched anglers up with this passing the buck.
Graham Elliott 1
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A headline you won't be seeing.
ANGLING TRUST SUE THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY FOR NEGLIGENCE AFTER FAILURE TO HALT THAMES WATER POLLUTION.
ANGLING TRUST SUE THE ENVIRONMENT AGENCY FOR NEGLIGENCE AFTER FAILURE TO HALT THAMES WATER POLLUTION.