3.19 The STEPS contract is managed for both Departments by an Estate and Contract Management Unit (ECMU). This lies outside the Departments' traditional line management structure and manages the estate as a single entity. The ECMU is held accountable by the Estate and Contract Management Board, whose role is to provide assurance to the Departments that the outcomes planned from the deal are delivered.
3.20 The Departments intend to manage the contract through a partnership approach. Mapeley STEPS do not form part of the Board but is required to attend meetings as appropriate. The chair of the Board is rotated between the two Departments. It was originally envisaged that the Board would meet quarterly, and that over time this would reduce to bi-annually, although to date it has met more regularly because of the ongoing negotiations with the contractor.
3.21 As the contract has progressed, the governance structure that was set up has been restructured and a number of new initiatives have been put in place to ensure that communications and management of the project are more effective. These include:
■ The decision to recruit a professional contract manager who has extensive private sector experience to provide more effective management of the contract.
■ A review of estates roles and responsibilities to remove duplication and ensure clear processes and accountabilities.
■ The strengthening of the Estates and Contract Management Board by the appointment of a Non Executive Director, who has extensive experience in estates and facilities management.
■ A revised STEPS committee structure to facilitate better communications between the Departments and Mapeley STEPS and to resolve issues.
A review was undertaken by external consultants of the contract management and the recommendations are currently being implemented. These are aimed at ensuring that clear processes and lines of communication are in place between the in-house support teams. Additionally, the STEPS committee structure has been reorganised into two lines. One is charged with resolving current contractual issues and for managing service delivery, the other is responsible for the historical issues under negotiation (Figure 14).