18 Normally, a non-competitive negotiation to expand a contract would not be regarded as the best route to achieve value for money. Departments, therefore, need:
a to ascertain whether the non-competitive route really is the best option to achieve value for money by assessing all the options legally open to them;
b to assess whether the contractor has merited a non-competitive negotiation to expand the contract by satisfying themselves that the contractor has delivered the performance expected of it, and provided value for money to date; and
c whenever possible, to use the opportunity of an expansion with an incumbent contractor to secure improvements to the original contract.