Efficient decision-making

While there undoubtedly remains a role for governments to appoint specialist advisors, as indicated above, this should not be a substitute for knowledge of the fundamentals (whether technical, legal, or financial) by public servants so that informed decisions can be made. The public authorities should not consider the use of advisors to be a reason to abdicate their decision-making role. Being able to understand the fundamentals also ensures that advisors can be challenged and an educated conclusion-including whether to accept or reject the advisors' recommendations-can be reached.

Figure 1: Reasons for delivery to contracted price

Source: Based on NAO, 2009.