The major recommendations coming from experience to date are that each Authority should:
• be well prepared and plan early; as indicated we think that planning must start a minimum of five years out and eight to ten years for more complex projects;
• be clear as to what it is wanting to achieve and plan for that outcome to ensure the continuity of the underlying services, whether this is at the Facility or not: this will allow constructive planning so reducing risk and ensuring any financial consequences are managed;
• engage early and constructively with the private sector (i.e. ProjectCos and FM providers);
• note that within the contract provisions there are incentive mechanisms, particularly the payment mechanisms, and these should be used as required to avoid or reduce risk and ongoing liability for Authorities;
• treat the process as a project and ensure that appropriate governance and sufficient resources are in place: both internally and with external advisers, as appropriate;
• be aware that, in the early projects, each contract is different and the individual circumstances of each project are likely to vary and issues other than those covered in this paper might arise or have a different impact; and
• take advantage of the support that is available from SFT, the NHS specialist support team and other Authorities that are, or have gone through, a similar process and be willing to share the Authority's own experiences with others.