8.24 To assist in meeting these objectives, the Government will seek to put in place over the next 12 months a single information resource, covering accredited advisers who have demonstrated their expertise and performance in PFI projects in fields such as law, commercial structuring or finance. This resource will be developed over time, reflecting the experiences of departments and public sector managers. It will provide recognition for the contribution of high-quality advisers, and reduce uncertainty over quality on the part of the public sector. It is crucial to its successful implementation that this single point of information and experience in hiring and managing professional advisers reflect the qualitative judgment of public sector clients on the standard of the advice they have received, rather than representing simply a list of potential advisers in different areas of expertise. By implementing this single information resource and its use by procuring authorities, the Government is therefore able to:
• ensure that the public sector is able to act as the single, important client for advice service in PFI that it is;
• benchmark the price and quality of advisers, based on evidence of their past expertise and performance, to help authorities secure value for money from their advisers; and
• provide positive incentives for advisers to ensure that they give the best advice to Government, utilising their most skilled personnel and full resources, as the accreditation system will provide an effective means for the public sector to reward excellence.
8.25 The Government will also explore the greater use of framework agreements for advisers whereby they can be engaged over more than a single project to provider greater consistency across the public sector's procurement programme and possibly lower the costs of such services.