3.15 Under the NDA's operational arrangements, the single point of accountability for the delivery of the Magnox contract over the 14 years was the chief financial officer (CFO). However, responsibility for finalising the contract, including the consolidation phase, rested with the SRO, the NDA's director for strategy and technology. This was in line with a recommendation made by the MPA in a June 2014 assurance review. NDA executives told us that the consolidation process effectively had two SROs with overlapping responsibilities, which was unhelpful.
3.16 There were several changes to the team managing the consolidation process as it progressed. Initially, the NDA's site-facing team was tasked with challenging CFP's requested change controls while also maintaining its day-to-day contract management responsibilities. A review commissioned by the NDA's assurance team in July 2016 found that the site-facing team was struggling to perform both duties effectively. The NDA responded by putting in place a new consolidation closure team in August 2016. The NDA's head of programme for the consolidation process (responsible for day-to-day management of CFP) changed once, and the NDA's lead on consolidation changed twice during the consolidation process.