1.11 Implementation begins with clients. Clients are at the core of the process and their needs must be met by the industry. But clients are dispersed and vary greatly, Previously, Government acted as a monolithic client. That is not so now. Many in the industry are concerned that developments in the public sector have fragmented the client base even further. The National Joint Consultative Committee for Building (NJCC) stated: "Nowadays the NJCC has no means of ensuring that all housing associations, trust hospitals, grant maintained schools, private Government agencies, utilities companies, etc. are aware of the best current practice and changes in the construction industry….. We also notice individual Government Departments operating different procurement practices and that this has become more pronounced since the demise of the PSA. Unless an effective communication network is established, as the construction industry is called upon to play its part in the economic recovery, more and more cases of bad practice will come to light and the thrust of the Interim Report may be of no avail". (Letter from Mr Alan Turner, Chairman, NJCC, 31st March 1994.)
1.12 Concerns were also expressed in Scotland, both in discussions with the industry, and also in the report by the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) entitled "Value or Cost" (published March 1994). That report commented "For many decades, construction in Scotland has been dominated by a small number of professionally organised client bodies [in the public sector] ... In 1980 these appeared to account for almost 70% of all construction, directly or indirectly, within the country... From March 1989 it became clear that the life of such agencies was rapidly coming to an end ... The consequence is that the principal commissioning clients in Scotland have been divested of their in-house professional skills".