5.43 It is recommended that an induction course is held for all staff in the Authority's monitoring team and key users (in contracts where users have a performance monitoring or reporting role) which covers areas such as:
•differences between PPP/NPD and non PPP/NPD contracts and their monitoring
• managing risk
• how to monitor availability
• how to monitor performance
• problem resolution
• reporting: information from the Contractor
• contract management
• involving and working with service users
• communications strategy
5.44 This course should be run when the contract documentation described above is in place so that the use of the documentation is an integral part of the course.
5.45 Since contract management staff may not have used payment mechanisms before, the Authority (possibly through its advisers) should provide training on how the payment mechanism operates and how to convert this into a contract monitoring recording system. Authorities should consider holding training sessions testing out their procedures for when the Contractor fails to provide the services agreed in the contract documents. Practical examples may be used such as "what happens if the Contractor fails to provide a meal specified in the catering requirements" or "what happens if the waste bins in a facility are not emptied."
5.46 Authorities should also ensure that other appropriate training is provided for contract management staff and recognise the importance of their role. Training may be needed to develop more generic skills (e.g. managing relationships, communication skills, negotiation skills, as well as the PPP/NPD specific skills (e.g. benchmarking and market testing and performance monitoring).
5.47 The contract manager should, as part of the contract management documentation, produce simplified guides to the key aspects of contract monitoring e.g. using the helpdesk, to assist new recruits to become familiar with the contract monitoring arrangements.