Digitising health records has been a government goal since the days of the failed NHS National Programme for IT (NPfiT) – launched in 2002 with a budget of £6.2 billion its goal was, among other top-down changes, to introduce a…

One of the most common mistakes organisations make is not planning their vendor termination strategy as carefully as they planned choosing their strategic vendor in the first place. Getting out of the agreement (safely and quickly) often takes more work…

In this article we explain the why, what and how of the PFI Operations Manual – the cornerstone of effective and consistent day to day contract management. The typical length of a PFI contract (20-30 years), makes it extremely unlikely…

Although we are no longer part of the EU, large parts of the EU Procurement Regulations still apply for UK public sector bodies. For above threshold procurements there are five main procurement routes you can take, these are: Open Procedure, Restricted Procedure, Competitive Procedure with Negotiation (CPN), Competitive Dialogue (CD) and Frameworks. There are hundreds of…

Competitive Dialogue (CD) is a public sector procurement tendering procedure whereby you enter into dialogue with suppliers until you find a solution that meets the needs of your organisation. It is ideal for complex and high-risk solutions where there are…

If you are looking to renegotiate your outsourcing relationship, you are not alone: Outsourcing contract renegotiations are on the rise. Around 75% of all existing outsourcing relationships are renegotiated at some point during their lifetime according to Gartner Research.  And…

As 2014 nears its end, we’ve taken time to reflect on the important issues we’ve highlighted over the last 12 months, the hot news we’ve reported on, and the lessons we’ve all learned in that time. And, when we looked…

We have already gone into quite some detail about the new EU Procurement directive due to hit our shores in the very near future – in fact, Cabinet Office consultations suggest that early 2015 is now more likely for their…

The 2014 EU Procurement Directives, soon to be implemented here in the UK, bring with them many changes essential for everyone involved in the procurement process to understand. The two most important, in our opinion, being that the directives support…

Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) is an incredibly useful step in the procurement process, especially when one of the more restrictive procedures is to be selected. However, essential though it may be, PME has until now been largely ignored. New EU…

The clue is in the name – private finance is at the heart of PFI. It is what distinguishes PFI from other forms of contract and other ways of providing public assets. What this means, in practice, is that whoever…

PFI indexation, as with other issues affecting affordability, is inextricably linked with the operational side of the contract, so those responsible for PFI contract management must take responsibility for dealing with indexation, and not leave it just to the finance…

The payment mechanism is the primary means for ensuring a PFI contractor performs. PFI contracts distinguish between ‘Availability’ and ‘Performance’ and to control costs, it is therefore essential that clients keep track of Availability and Performance deductions in PFI contracts.…

The PFI monitoring calendar is an essential tool for you, as the client, to stay on top of the responsibilities of your PFI contractor and its sub-contractors, as well as your own responsibilities. In this article we focus on how…

Although it sounds like a mundane issue, a good PFI document management and filing system is an essential tool for effective contract management. The need for an efficient filing system for management of any complex contract should be self-evident; however,…

The thought of attending yet another meeting with your PFI contractor may seem like a pointless chore… you may feel that there’s too much talk and too little action by your contractor thereafter. Yet, there are ways in which you…

Contractor responsibility for the PFI life cycle of the assets is a fundamental principle in PFI contracts. The related costs form a significant element in the unitary charge. Ensuring that the PFI life cycle programme is well managed and meets…

In PFI assets with considerable public or end user traffic, such as libraries, leisure centres, schools, offices and prisons, there is a high risk of regular incidents of vandalism and other types of damage caused by client-related parties. The costs…