3.11 Contract management is an essential part of the commissioning cycle (Figure 11). Greater planning and consideration of contract management is needed in other parts of the cycle:
• Designing policy
Departments should consider their contract management capability when designing their policies and contractual approaches.
• Generating solutions
HM Treasury's guidance on the 5 case model already requires contract management to be considered as part of the business case for a project, but this is rarely prioritised.
• Mobilising contract management
The cross-government review found a lack of continuity and limited transfer of knowledge from the pre-contract phase to operational contract management in 5 recent contracts.
• Evaluating projects that have finished
Departments rarely collate data to enable an evaluation of the best contractual models and techniques. For instance, this has meant that government has not been able to verify whether PFI has achieved value for money compared to conventional financing.39
3.12 Government is now beginning to recognise the importance of considering contract management earlier. The Cabinet Office has updated its standard operating procedures for procurement to include the mobilisation of contract management.40
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39 National Audit Office, Briefing for the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee: Review of the VFM assessment process for PFI, October 2013.
40 Standard Operating Procedures are published on the Crown Commercial Service website, available at: https://ccs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk