Longer term partnering arrangements were not developed until late on

1.17  Familiarity with the project and how the contract is intended to operate are essential requirements for any staff engaged in managing PFI contracts and staff continuity between the procurement and the subsequent management of the contract is desirable. Where this is not possible, there should be a gradual hand-over between staff who negotiated the deal and those responsible for managing it to ensure continuity in a department's knowledge and understanding of the project.

1.18  Due to unforeseen staffing difficulties, the Service was hard pressed, ahead of the start of court operations, to put in place a fully-developed formal structure to manage the contract in the long term. The Project Sponsor, who was involved in the negotiation of the Laganside Courts project, has been retained for the first year of operation and is involved in ongoing contract management with Consul. In this role, he is working alongside the Laganside Courts' business manager, who is responsible for the scheduling of court business.

1.19  The Service has developed a planned programme of activities to transfer responsibility for contract and service management to a central unit responsible for existing PFI and Facilities Management contracts. This team will work closely with the Project Sponsor during the transfer period reviewing the existing procedures, identifying the contractual requirements, agreeing the current programme of activities, transferring knowledge and acquiring an understanding of the project. To aid the transition of responsibility, the Resource Management Team responsible for logging faults and non-performance at the Laganside Courts, has been further supplemented with the appointment of a member of the Project Team.