HM Treasury has recognised that, if this approach is to prove a success, public sector clients must be better skilled and advised at the early stages of procuring a project. The Government has subsequently argued that experienced public sector clients must be retained and provided with the advice and support they require to ensure a high standard of design quality. Too often, at the moment, the public sector gatekeepers are inexperienced and under-supported in terms of professional, expert advice. A good scheme absolutely requires a good client.
The need for good client skills was recognised by the Paddington Health Campus Independent Review Panel which recommended that the programme board of each major health investment programme (MHIP) should ensure that appointments to a MHIP team take full account of the challenges of such a scheme by including, from the outset, a technical director who knows what design and planning expertise is required and how it can be procured.
The Government recognises this. In a report published to coincide with the March 2006 Budget4 it stated that it is working towards a number of objectives:
- To ensure projects are sufficiently developed and mature prior to release to the market;
- To ensure that authorities invest time and resources upfront so that there is certainty of affordability before procurement starts;
- The early indication of potential problems to enable issues to be considered in a timely and orderly manner;
- To ensure that only those projects which are value for money continue to proceed through to procurement;
- To reduce procurement timescales and costs;
- To improve the ability of departments to communicate with the PFI market;
- To capture the lessons to be learnt from projects in operation.
HM Treasury has clearly listened to the RIBA and is acting to improve the standard of design and procurement of future PFI projects. Poor design must be tackled head-on if we are to maximise the value of the UK's major investment in the nation's health and education. We are pleased that HM Treasury have acted so swiftly and decisively on the issues and proposals we identified. We hope we will continue to be able to work closely with HM Treasury to help develop these proposals through to a satisfactory delivery.
In terms of addressing design deficiencies in individual projects, the RIBA-working closely with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment-has developed a network of professional Client Design Advisors to help guide public sector clients through often highly complex procedures to achieve the best design outcomes.
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4 PFI: Strengthening Long Term Partnerships – HM Treasury – March 2006.