1. The National Audit Office examined the extent to which the PFI contract for the redevelopment is likely to deliver value for money and MOD's management of this major project.
2. We used an issue analysis approach to design the scope and nature of the evidence required to complete this examination. That is, we set a series of high-level audit questions that we considered it would be necessary to answer to assess the success or otherwise of the procurement, and collected evidence accordingly. For each of the top-level questions, we identified a subsidiary group of questions, linked logically to the main questions, to direct our detailed work and analysis. Our general report Examining the value for money of deals under the Private Finance Initiative (HC 739, 1998-99) provides an outline of this general methodology which acts as a starting point for all of our PFI examinations. We also drew on relevant issues covered in our other PFI reports, particularly those dealing with accommodation projects or the financing of large PFI deals.
3. The top-level questions we set were:
■ Was the procurement process good?
■ Was a good deal achieved?
■ Is the deal likely to deliver in practice?
4. Our main evidence has been derived from examining documents provided for us by MOD, interviews with relevant staff within MOD and its advisers.
5. We also commissioned expert consultants to undertake detailed work on our behalf. We engaged Theodore Goddard, a firm experienced in acting as legal advisers on Private Finance projects, to examine the contract and advise on how well it protected MOD's position. We also engaged Tectus, a firm of architects and space management consultants, to advise us on MOD's definition of its space requirements and the final design solution.