10 The survey work was supported by further fieldwork, as follows:
■ Three focus groups were carried out by MORI in February 2007. Participants were public and private sector contract managers and discussions were focused around key value for money issues of the cost, time and quality of changes made.
■ During 2006 and 2007 we spoke to a range of private sector contractors, financial and legal advisers, and public sector officials (listed below). Discussions were used initially to scope the main value for money issues, and subsequently to explore and 'triangulate' the issues arising out of the survey work. They were chosen to ensure that we heard from a good range of parties with different perspectives and interests in PFI.
■ Visits to five individual public sector authorities were carried out in the first half of 2007 (listed below). Public sector authorities were chosen in particular where they were responsible for managing more than one project (either two PFI projects or a conventionally procured project in addition to a PFI project). By visiting these authorities, it was possible to compare experiences and explore reasons for different outcomes despite similar or identical management teams. As a result, the case visits were used not just to provide real life examples in the report but also to reach conclusions on the main influences on the effectiveness of change processes.
■ An advisory Expert Panel, consisting of nine PFI experts with a variety of backgrounds from the public and private sectors, was convened in September 2007 in order to discuss the preliminary conclusions of the study and to consider potential recommendations. The members of the panel were:
Graham Beazley-Long - PPP Forum Director
Jo Fox - HM Treasury Senior PFI Commercial Adviser
Bob Horner - Corla Chief Executive
Margie Jaffe - UNISON Policy Officer
Martin Lipson - 4ps Programme Director
Dominic Leadsom - Turner and Townsend Director
Chris Lonsdale - University of Birmingham Senior Lecturer
Mark Page - Norfolk and Norwich NHS Trust PFI Contract Manager
Chris Standing - East Riding County Council PFI Contract Manager