16. The procurement of PFI deals is inherently more complex than the procurement of conventional deals and can involve departments and bidders in heavy administrative costs. For example, on the Newcastle Estate deal (19th Report, Session 1999-2000), the cost of the procurement to the Department of Social Security rose from an initial estimate of £0.4 million to £4.4 million, an eleven-fold increase, reflecting the complexity of this type of procurement and the Department's inability to undertake many of the tasks required to negotiate the deal. On the Prime deal to transfer the Department of Social Security estate to the private sector (41st Report, Session 1998-99), the Department's costs totalled £10.9 million, compared with an initial budget of £1.7 million, and the final three bidders spent around £27 million in preparing their bids.