14. Following post-costing of a high value contract (£191 million), which had been priced over a number of years in successive tranches, the MOD concluded its contractor had not met their obligation to provide the Department with equality of information at the time of pricing. As a result, the MOD believed it had agreed a price it would not otherwise have agreed to pay. The contractor disputed this interpretation and despite an extended period of discussion was unwilling to negotiate a repayment to the MOD. The Department therefore made a decision to refer the contract to the Review Board for a binding decision, under a condition of the contract (Standard Condition 50).
15. After receiving formal written submissions and hearing oral evidence from the parties the Review Board reached its decision in June 2011, in an extensive written report that is confidential to the two parties. The Review Board also produced for the public record an "anonymised report" detailing its decision, a copy of which has been deposited in the House of Commons library (DEP2011-1762 dated 6 Sep 2011).
16. The Review Board found that the contractor had not fulfilled its obligations to provide the MOD information of which it was aware and which was pertinent to the pricing of the contract. However, the Board also found that the MOD did not make appropriate enquiries about certain matters of which it ought reasonably to have been aware. Taking account of all these circumstances the Board ordered the contractor to repay the MOD a sum of £9M. The contractor accepted the decision and has repaid this amount to the MOD.