Q171 Chairman: Okay.
Mr Abadie, at some stage in the near future, you are going to return to the private sector, and I noted the warmth of the reception by your colleague, who is reluctant to see you go. If you were about to leave, what would you advise us to do differently from what we are doing now? I suspect that this will lead to you leaving rather more suddenly.
Mr Abadie: Or not going back to the private sector, as the case may be. In overseeing Treasury policy, pretty much all our forward-looking policy agenda was captured in a March Treasury policy document, published alongside the Budget, entitled Strengthening Long-Term Partnerships. That document describes chapter and verse our forward-looking policy agenda. Although that might have been a hypothetical question, that document encapsulates what the Treasury will be looking at in the future, beyond me and John. We mention in the document a couple of areas-I do not know if the Committee wants to go through them-that we have decided to look at more closely. Since that document in March, we have published a couple of guidance notes on value for money, benchmarking and market testing. We are looking at design in PFI and, as I said, the document covers many areas such as reform of the procurement process.
Q172 Chairman: Has the NAO had the opportunity to consider the implications, perhaps on the work of this Committee, of the March document? Would anything in it change substantially the way in which the Committee looks at PFI cases? It does not matter if you cannot give an immediate answer. You can write if you wish.
Sir John Bourn: Certainly.
Chairman: Gentlemen, you will gather that there has been a degree of gentle scepticism throughout this hearing, which I suspect will be reflected in the Report, but thank you very much for trying to reply openly.