3.30 Infrastructure UK and the Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Group will report in December 2011 on new model competition and procurement processes developed in collaboration with the Highways Agency and Environment Agency's roads and flood defence programmes to:
• encourage innovation through earlier contractor involvement and supply chain integration;
• achieve the best whole life outcome rather than the lowest cost for a given specification;
• consider alternatives to current interpretation of procurement processes and application of EU directives;
• reduce wastage in the process;
• use benchmark data to set challenging cost targets; and
• allow industry to present alternative value for money variant proposals.
3.31 In order to encourage procurement approaches and contract form selection that properly considers clients' risk appetite and commercial capability, Infrastructure UK and the Efficiency and Reform Group in Cabinet Office will publish guidance on the selection of effective procurement models and contracting options for different categories of infrastructure projects and programmes (December 2011).
3.32 The Government will encourage more effective application of competition to realise cost savings, growth through the supply chain and minimise wastage in procurement processes. Infrastructure UK will work with the Efficiency and Reform Group in the Cabinet Office to ensure guidance and assurance processes encourage greater risk-based assessment of competition and procurement options with more focus on innovation, cost and performance outcomes.
3.33 The Government will report by autumn 2011 on the use of NEC3 and other standard form contracts for infrastructure and make recommendations for further standardisation. 3 The review will include consideration of current approaches to risk transfer and incentivisation and the need for additional standard form agreements, for example, a public sector supplier alliancing template.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3 NEC is an integrated set of contract documents overseen by a panel of the Institution of Civil Engineers. NEC3 has also been used as the basis for development of the NHS Procure21+ national frameworks.