Recommendations relating to the operational phase:

•  contracts should be managed from the start of the procurement so that all parties see themselves as partners, not adversaries or competitors;

•  there should be agreement of and commitment to a shared vision;

•  there should be regular dialogue between the parties and open sharing of all relevant information;

•  it should be recognised that boundary/interface issues should be dealt with constructively;

•  contracts should have a governance structure that engenders public confidence and involves stakeholders;

•  regular external reviews of the scheme should be commissioned to measure the degree to which the agreed outcomes are delivered;

•  there should be more work to ensure that performance deductions are a proper reflection of the impact of the non delivery of the service;

•  contract terms should not be so elaborate that management time required in putting arrangements in place and then monitoring them outweighs the return in service improvement;

•  the public sector should get better information on whole life costs and financial information on the cost of the schemes; and

•  there should be more support for LEAs to become informed clients so that there is a level playing field for negotiating, contracting and dispute resolution.