18 Public authorities must devote sufficient attention and resources to the contract management process. Our work has long emphasised the need for better management of the contract. A culture of focus on making the deal rather than thinking about contract management is still, however, prevalent in many quarters of the public sector. Some public authorities have only relatively recently realised the resources and experience needed to manage contracts effectively.
19 Many private finance projects are delivered under programmes of similar projects. There is a general shortage of the commercial and project management skills needed to manage these programmes and other complex projects across Government. This shortage has often compromised the VFM of projects. It has also led to an over-reliance on external advisors and interim staff which causes problems from a loss of knowledge when they move on. Some Departments have tackled this by developing centralised programme management to help coordinate projects and provide support to public authorities. Recent NAO reports have, however, highlighted the difficulties in building up momentum in a programme, for example for renewing the secondary school estate.3 This may result in insufficient numbers of contracts being let quickly enough to enable the expected benefits from the programme to be delivered on time.4
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3 Building Schools for the Future: renewing the secondary school estate, National Audit Office (HC 135, 2008-09).
4 Building Schools for the Future op.cit.; Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: managing the waste PFI programme National Audit Office (HC 66, 2008-09).