13 There have been a number of changes and initiatives in the construction industry in recent years which aim to improve results regardless of the form of procurement. These include encouraging closer working between clients and consortia, and setting targets for improvements in construction performance. There is also the Achieving Excellence Programme, which aims to as procurers of construction. Finally, there are different procurement routes, other than PFI, such as design and build and prime contracting, which also aim to improve value for money in construction.
14 This report, and our census, focused on post-contract construction experience in the PFI projects considered. We did not set out to examine the value for money of the deals. This has been covered by many of our previous PFI reports. Nor did we try to judge how well the construction element would have been performed had the contracts been let using other procurement methods. The positive results of our census do, however, generally compare favourably with the results of other studies which have considered the historical experience of other public sector construction projects. For example, 'Modernising Construction' (HC87, Session 2000-01), Mott MacDonald: 'Review of Large Public Procurement in the UK', July 2002, Agile Construction: 'Benchmarking the Government Client', 1999.