2.1 The initial and priority task in planning for exit is to establish a high level understanding of the critical activities, risks and dependencies that will need to be managed to ensure that the exit is a success.
2.2 In the simplest case, where the need for the services and/or the assets expires with the current Contract, this "success" will simply involve winding down the existing arrangement in accordance with the Contract, within budget and in such a way as to cause minimum negative impact on service customers and users. In most cases however there will also be the need to run a procurement to replace some or all of the current services and to ensure that the procurement is completed to allow a timely and straightforward transition from the existing arrangements to the new.
2.3 It is in this latter case that it is especially important for the Authority to have started planning in good time so as to ensure that the new arrangements are in place when the current ones expire. This requires the Authority to work systematically through a four step process which will allow them to identify the long lead activities and the critical path and hence determine the timing and sequence of the key tasks to be undertaken.
2.4 The four steps are:
• Step One - determine the future service requirement;
• Step Two - if a future service requirement is identified, determine the best option for future service delivery (evaluate delivery options, determine the procurement strategy and timescales);
• Step Three - review exit provisions of the current arrangement; and
• Step Four - build and manage the plan for exit and, as appropriate, transition to the new arrangement.
2.5 Each of these steps is now described in turn.