3.9 Other significant arrangements covered by the new guidance include:
■ Refinancings must not be allowed to threaten the delivery of the contracted public services.
■ Where a proposed refinancing would involve an increase in termination liabilities, contractors will generally need to secure the authority's consent both to the refinancing and to the increase in termination liabilities.
■ Departments may receive their share of any refinancing gains as a cash sum at the time of the refinancing or by a reduced unitary charge.
■ Authorities should have the right of access at any time to audit their contractors' financial models relevant to any refinancing, including those for which the authority would be due a share of the refinancing gains. This will enable authorities to ensure that they receive the relevant amount of any refinancing gains. Some of the contractors we spoke to said they accepted there was a need for greater openness by them on the impact of refinancing including in financial models at the time of bidding.