3.28 Governance arrangements and procedures for agreeing changes will be critical if a PFI deal is to continue to deliver the services required. The STEPS contract has mechanisms to deal with change. However, although governance processes are in place, there are a number of changes that have been made outside the contract.
3.29 Shortly after Mapeley STEPS' financial problems came to light, the Departments agreed to change the Unitary Charge payment date. Since the contractual monthly payment to Mapeley STEPS fell a few days after its payments to landlords, the Departments decided to pay the Unitary Charge earlier in the month to ease the burden on Mapeley STEPS' cashflow. The change in payment date was not dealt with in the contract and the Departments are returning the payment date to its original month end position.
3.30 To cope with extra demand for office space, the Departments have had the use of over 30 new facilities since the contract went live and are receiving services from Mapeley STEPS for most of them. Apart from the first 11 of these, the Departments are currently paying rent directly to landlords and paying the contractor for services, as the remaining 19 have not yet been incorporated into the contract. Mapeley STEPS and the Departments are still negotiating the Facilities Unitary Payment of these facilities. In addition some 300 projects have been completed by Mapeley STEPS. These include provision of new call centres, removal of asbestos and provision of new lighting.