2.28 The Department was introducing its new standard contract during the time this deal was being negotiated. Bidders had signed up in principle to the terms and conditions of the standard form contract at FITN stage. Most of the terms had been agreed by the time that Bywest was selected as preferred bidder. Some outstanding matters such as uninsurable risk, compensation on termination and the new major issue of refinancing had to be dealt with and this caused delay.
2.29 LRO proposed an alternative use for one of the buildings (T Block) on the West Middlesex site late in the procurement process; this complicated the negotiations and resulted in a late alteration to the PFI contract, in the form of an additional schedule to the contract dealing specifically with T Block (see paragraph 1.26).
2.30 NHS Estates also needed to discuss detailed design issues with Bywest. This is a normal feature of hospital procurements once a preferred bidder has been selected but still adds to the time taken to reach deal closure.