5. From our consultations, it is clear that there are pockets of poor behaviour in the PFI market. From a private sector perspective, the genesis of this is often an overly aggressive interpretation and application of the PFI Contract. Private sector consultees expressed particular concern with this approach when it was led by consultants who weren't adequately managed by their public sector clients.
6. Multiple private sector consultees confirmed many of the practical concerns noted in our brief, as well as others, including:
(a) Storing up issues to deluge the help desk with multiple faults in a burst, often timed to achieve maximum commercial impact and disruption rather than to have issues addressed;
(b) Prioritising the use of technical and very literal interpretation of specifications in the PFI Contract, seemingly in an attempt to maximise commercial leverage, rather than seek to resolve underlying issues; and
(c) Shouting and aggressive conduct during meetings.
7. SPV Owners, Management Service Providers and O&M Providers commented on the personal impact such approaches were having on staff and the associated impact on both recruitment and retention in such circumstances. We heard repeatedly that, in some PFI sectors, it is increasingly difficult to attract high calibre staff, because the employee market considers there to be growing reputational and wellbeing risks associated with accepting particular roles. This is not presently a systemic issue, but there is certainly a risk of it becoming one, particularly if the prevalence of aggressive contract management and associated disputes trends upwards. This is one of the reasons why, later on in this report, we make an overarching recommendation of there being a "reset" opportunity in the PFI market. It is in the public interest for PFI projects to be able to retain and attract high calibre staff .