2.15 Authorities will not have all the expertise necessary to design and procure a PFI project in house, and are unlikely to have all the necessary skills for managing the relationship. Authorities have sought advice, often from external advisers, on areas such as legal and financial issues, contract management, and performance monitoring.
2.16 Authorities consider that the Office of Government Commerce would be the best central body to provide best practice guidance on managing relationships with PFI contractors. The major areas on which authorities would like more central guidance include contract management, performance measurement, payment mechanisms, change procedures, legal issues, and achieving and maintaining value for money. There is existing Treasury Taskforce guidance, 'How to Manage the Delivery of Long Term PFI contracts', and the Office of Government Commerce has issued guidance, 'How Major Service Contracts Go Wrong', which highlights how important it is to manage the relationship with suppliers. The Office of Government Commerce is also: considering commissioning the development of further contract management guidance based on its own feedback from departments, updating the standardisation of PFI contracts guidance and developing a PFI practitioner skills module to form part of the wider skills framework for government procurement. In addition, its Gateway review process will be used to monitor how contracts are being managed and to identify areas where guidance needs updating.