3.1 Procurements of PF2 projects have a number of features that make them more complex than many other types of procurement. PF2 projects will be a long-term agreement for the design, construction, financing, maintenance, and sometimes operation, of a new asset; and their procurement needs, therefore, to address all these issues during the tendering process. Addressing these issues appropriately takes time. For instance, it will take many months to complete the detailed design development and obtain planning approval for the new asset. Additionally, agreeing how the PF2 project is going to be financed by a private sector partners will add further cost, complexity and time in procurement as financiers require time to conduct their own due diligence and to complete their separate financial negotiations.
3.2 Some of the additional procurement time required for PF2 projects is, therefore, not only necessary but highly beneficial to the overall project. In the past the central benefit of the PFI procurement process, which followed a similar process to that planned for PF2 projects, has been its track record at delivering infrastructure on time and to budget1. However, while longer procurement timelines are expected for PF2 projects than for less complex models, the Government believes that procurement timescales for PFI were excessive and is committed to reducing the time and cost of procurement of PF2 projects going forward.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________