18. Consultees were asked about the role a code of conduct could play in preventing poor behaviour. Most consultees felt that anything that could serve to improve relationships would be a good thing, but two main caveats were then typically raised. Firstly, to be really effective, any code of conduct would need to have some level of contractual significance, but that would make it difficult to agree and implement. Secondly, there was concern that when other voluntary codes of conduct had previously been introduced to the PFI market, they had typically only had a short-term impact and that parties had typically deviated away from them as and when they felt that the requirements of the code of conduct no longer served them well. Previous codes of conduct that were quoted included the "Refinancing Code of Conduct" and the "Austerity Measures Code of Conduct". Other consultees mentioned locally developed "Partnership Charters", or similar, and reported varying degrees of success.