2.5 In order to allocate risk effectively, both parties need to understand the size and nature of that risk. For specifications to be effective departments need to be clear on what they require, which in turn depends on accurate data relating to any existing service provision, the condition of assets being transferred to contractors and the future needs of the service users. The Department often experiences challenges in these areas because of the complexities of some of its projects and the large numbers of potential users of the services required.
2.6 In our case study projects we found that robust data was not always available. Collecting robust data may be difficult if the project is providing a new service. We found, however, that the data on existing services was frequently insufficiently robust, both for performance information and on the condition of the assets being proposed to be transferred to the private sector.