1  Introduction

This document has been prepared as part of the best practice 4Ps Procurement Pack for the Fire & Rescue Service and the Police Service. It is based on setting out an appropriate standard payment mechanism that Project Teams can use for new build accommodation based PFI/PPP projects.

The proposed payment mechanism is based on a review of PFI projects within the Fire & Rescue and Police Service that have been signed to date or are in procurement. Whilst these have provided a useful source of information the proposed payment mechanism also takes into account greater standardisation and widely applied principles relating to accommodation-based payment mechanisms from other PFI/PPP sectors. Additionally the payment mechanism incorporates input from a wide range of stakeholders who contributed to its development as part of the consultation process. We would like to thank everyone who took the time to comment on the consultation draft and we believe this document represents a consensus approach to many of the key issues arising within a payment mechanism for the Fire & Rescue and Police Service.

This guidance document sets out the detail of Schedule 6 (the Payment Mechanism) from the standardised contract (shown in blue text) and provides commentary and guidance (shown in italics) to support end-users of the Payment Mechanism.