3.30 72 per cent of authorities and 80 per cent of contractors told us that their relationship with each other was good or better. In addition, 45 per cent of contractors and 35 per cent of authorities thought their relationship had improved since the letting of the contract. This is encouraging and reflects the efforts of many authorities and contractors to develop a partnership approach to their relationship. There were, however, contracts where the relationship between the authority and the contractor was not going so well (Figure 33). 18 per cent of authorities and 11 per cent of contractors said their relationship had worsened since contract letting although only 1 per cent of authorities and 4 per cent of contractors described their current relationship as poor.9
34 |
| Examples of authority and contractor views on why relationships have worsened and how they could be improved | |
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| RAF Mail | |
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| 'The idea of a partnership has not flourished, the contractor is only interested in maximising profits with the minimum of capital outlay.' | Contractor 'The change in requirements has put pressure on the authority who have put pressure on the contractor to carry out un-contracted activity at no cost.' |
How the relationship could be improved 'Higher quality management of future requirements and documentation by the contractor. More face to face contact.' | How the relationship could be improved 'Don't know.' | ||
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| Elgar (IT) | |
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| 'Original high hopes from both sides have perhaps not been fully realised yet. Although technology migration and transfer of responsibility went well, new services are perceived to be expensive, response to new service requests can be sluggish, and some technical and management personnel have departed without being replaced.'
| Contractor 'Both parties prepared to work for success.' |
How the relationship could be improved 'Internal resources (human and financial) have to be set aside for successful IT service delivery. Conversely, the contractor must understand the importance of consistent, high quality services as well as the constraints under which government operates, its needs for audit trails, transparent accountability and inspection of financial records in pricing proposals.' | How the relationship could be improved 'Greater buy-in from users, and more direct discussion.' | ||
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| Defence Fixed Telecommunications Service | |
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| 'There has been a gap between the authority's expectations and the reality of the contract. During the implementation phase there was a large degree of working together to overcome the many problems. Introducing new services is now the main challenge but in many cases the parties are reverting to a traditional customer/supplier relationship.' | Contractor 'As both parties better understand each other's requirements and pressures, the relationship develops, particularly as we have exceeded contractual requirements in most areas.' |
How the relationship could be improved 'Relationship needs to become more collaborative, with increased incentivisation for both parties, and underpinned by renegotiation of many of the contract schedules. Openness remains the key to success.' | How the relationship could be improved 'A key area of improvement is that of empowerment. At times decisions can be slowed down if they are required to be reviewed and affirmed multiple times up through the ranks. This is understood by both parties and is being worked on over time.' | ||
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| NOTE The authority and contractor for the RAF Mail project agreed in our survey that their relationship worsened after contract letting but steps have since been taken to address this (paragraph 3.34). For the Elgar and Defence Fixed Telecommunications Service projects the authorities think the relationships have worsened but the contractors think they have improved. Source: National Audit Office survey of authorities and contractors | |
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9 Some authorities where the relationship had not been going so well at the time of our survey (late 2000) said they had subsequently taken action which they believed had improved their relationships with their contractors. See paragraphs 3.33 to 3.36.