Early meeting

3.21 An early meeting should be arranged between the parties to agree:

• the timetable

• the process

• the governance structures

• the specification; and

• to gain an understanding of the contractual and information requirements associated with the benchmarking and/or market testing process.

3.22 It is vital that the parties reach agreement on the detailed process from the outset. All this could be captured in a 'memorandum of understanding'.