2.5 The Project Company will usually conduct the front line benchmarking or market testing exercise, and so it must allocate the right level of resource to the management of the process. Value testing can also be resource-intensive for the Authority and, as it usually occurs every five to seven years, the public sector partner is unlikely to be fully resourced to manage the exercise. The Authority will need to assess the resource and skill levels available to it from its existing contract management team and determine any additional requirements. Normally, the responsibility for managing the process on the public sector side rests with its contract management team. Responsibility for schools' projects will often be at Local Authority level, and for hospital projects will often be at Trust level. Their interface during value testing will normally be with the Project Company, although it may in some contracts be with the facilities management company.
Box 2.2 Skills Required in the Value Testing Process: |
• project management; |
• ability to evaluate benchmark data; |
• ability to evaluate financial data; |
• negotiation; |
• knowledge of facilities management; and |
• audit. |