7.59 The research reported in this document into horizontal aspects of PFI has been a key input into the refinement of the PFI programme outlined in this and succeeding chapters. The Government intends to continue with this process.
7.60 In particular, the future agenda of research in this area is intended to focus on the operational performance of PFI projects. Chapter 4 included limited data on this operational performance. The Government intends that the preliminary opinion data produced by this research to be the starting point for a thorough, objective data set on the operational performance of PFI projects. Future research into this project sample and others will focus, among other factors, on:
• the impact of performance regimes and payments deductions on private sector responses;
• the ability of the public sector to manage the flexibility of PFI contracts (see paragraphs 8.45 and 8.47);
• the impact of private sector asset management on the workload of frontline public sector staff like teachers; and
• the assessment of factors leading to the small number of reports of unsatisfactory performance in PFI projects.