1.8 At the same time as the Treasury was negotiating the project agreement with Exchequer Partnership, the Treasury Taskforce was developing a set of standard terms and conditions for PFI contracts. The aim of the standard contract terms was to streamline the PFI procurement process, thereby improving its efficiency and reducing costs for both the public and private sectors.
1.9 The Taskforce consulted banks and other project funding institutions during the development of the standard contract terms to identify any issues that project funders might find contentious. During this consultation some financial institutions raised concerns over several of the proposed clauses. However, the clauses were thought to be beneficial to the PFI process and to the public sector, and the Taskforce considered it was important that the standard contract was accepted as a whole. In agreement with the Treasury PFI project team, the Taskforce decided it would be appropriate to use the Treasury building project to test the standard terms and conditions, with a view to getting them accepted by the project funding community. The contract terms agreed between the Treasury and Exchequer Partnership therefore mirrored the Taskforce standardised contract terms. The project was viewed as an ideal opportunity to gather support for the standardised contract, as the Taskforce considered that the high profile of both the Treasury and its building would increase the likelihood of the standard contract being accepted.