INTRODUCTION

The Government has published the "Infrastructure

Procurement Routemap - a guide to improving delivery

capability" ("Routemap") for consultation. This is part of

the implementation programme for the Infrastructure Cost

Review and is a set of guidelines and tools designed to

support public sector infrastructure providers' capability to

improve the delivery of large scale projects and

programmes, long term capital investment plans and

publicly procured mega-projects.

It is widely acknowledged that procurement behaviours and

associated processes can be lengthy, expensive, adversarial

and risk averse. The Government recognises that a change

in behaviour is needed to address issues of inefficiency in

the procurement process and project delivery. The

Routemap is one way of achieving this goal.

The Routemap is not a prescriptive process. Rather, it

ensures that the "right" questions are asked at the right time

and that key risks are identified. It is anticipated that the

projects utilising the Routemap will see a number of

benefits, including achieving value for money, avoiding

unnecessary costs, potential increase in revenue and

development of a tailored best practice toolkit.

In this client alert, we take a closer look at the four key

components of the Routemap:

■ complexity assessment of the organisation and the

project or programme delivery environment and

associated pipeline;

■ capability assessment of the procuring authority and

project or programme delivery partner and the

supporting supply chain;

■ delivery route/procurement option selection and

implementation; and

■ innovation and best practice resources (building on

existing guidance and tools where appropriate).

COMPLEXITY ASSESSMENT

An assessment of the organisation, project delivery

environment and complexity of the issues is the first step of

the Routemap. The procuring authority will consider the

degree of complexity associated with a number of factors

such as stakeholders, interfaces, technology, its requirements

and financial impact. The output is a qualitative assessment

which should provide a better understanding of associated

risks, their consequences and potential revenue generating

opportunities.

CAPABILITY ASSESSMENT OF THE PUBLIC AND

PRIVATE SECTOR PARTIES

The next step is an assessment by the public sector of its

own capability to deliver the project and manage assets. The

assessment is based on a range of characteristics including

the ability to define required outcomes, governance, basis of

decision making and its effectiveness. A low score would

lead to the development of an improvement plan to put the

procuring authority in a position to demonstrate appropriate

capability.

This is followed by an assessment of the private sector

capability as against a range of criteria. The private sector

INFRASTRUCTURE PROCUREMENT ROUTEMAP: A GUIDE TO IMPROVING DELIVERY CAPABILITY

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entity should be able to develop a project or programme to meet

procuring authority's strategic outcomes and maximise value

from the supply chain by effectively managing the

relationships. A low score will mean that the private sector

entity in question is capable of procuring simple projects or

commodities and will need to either improve or procure

capability in the market. By contrast, a high score will

demonstrate high level of ability to generate best value.

The Government intends the capability and complexity

assessments to examine conditions that influence the

achievement of successful outcomes rather than individual

ability or action. It will be interesting to see how this is applied

in practice. Whilst the aim is to increase overall efficiency

there is a danger of public sector engaging in a lengthy and

expensive assessment exercise at the outset.

DELIVERY ROUTE/PROCUREMENT OPTION

SELECTION

The results of the capability and complexity assessments will

dictate the selection of the appropriate procurement route. A

highly complex project or programme will lead to the

employment of joint venture, alliancing, partnering and PF2

procurement routes which require a higher level of capability.

If the current capability is assessed to be at a low level then the

options are to reduce complexity of the project or improve

capability. The consideration of the appropriate procurement

route will also highlight the need for and the nature of any

enhancement activity required for effective project delivery and

only once this has been finalised should the procurement

exercise commence.

With the exception of complex infrastructure procurement,

there is now a presumption against the use of the competitive

dialogue procedure which has often resulted in long

procurements and high costs for industry. However, the

Government recognises that it can be successfully used where

the procuring authority has undertaken adequate preparation

and has a suitably skilled team which is able to engage robustly

with the private sector. The Routemap should go some way

towards ensuring that procuring authorities are well equipped to

adopt the competitive dialogue procedure where suitable.

INNOVATION AND BEST PRACTICE RESOURCES

The principles of the Routemap are consistent with existing

government policy and guidance on effective procurement and

the Government is developing a number of tools that can be

deployed alongside the Routemap, as follows.

At the Autumn Statement 2012, the Government published full

details of a new approach to public private partnerships - PF2.

Whilst restating its commitment to private sector involvement

in delivering infrastructure and services, the Government

recognised the need to address the widespread concerns with the

Private Finance Initiative and the recent changes in the

economic context.

From January 2012, the Government has mandated the adoption

of LEAN sourcing principles across central government and the

Cabinet Office has published Standard Operating Procedures

(SOPs) for open, restricted and competitive dialogue procedures

and is working with the Treasury to develop a set of SOPs

tailored for use with PF2 procurements. The Department for

Business, Innovation and Skills has developed "PAS 91" - the

Publically Available Specification for Construction Related Pre-

Qualification. This standard is to be used across all Government

departments and is focused on the key questions required to test

compliance with the core criteria essential for prequalification

and to establish uniform requirements for their application and

use.

The Infrastructure Cost Review and Government Construction

Strategy implementation programmes have been developing a

number of new best practice approaches including: early

supplier engagement; strategic incentivisation; supply chain

contract alignment; use of project bank accounts; and client

requirements and technical standards. The intention is to have

integrated resources that can be used to support effective

running of the procurement process.

SUMMARY

The Government has already applied principles of the

Routemap on both the Crossrail Project and the Thames Estuary

Phase 1 Programme. With securing efficiency and savings in

mind, the Government intends to use the Routemap on a trial

basis in the Top 40 projects identified in the 2011 National

Infrastructure Plan and to encourage its application in future

major projects and programmes prior to the approval of the

Outline Business case. The key to the success of the

Government's various initiatives would be consistent and

streamlined guidance and consistent application across

Government departments and local authorities.

The closing date for consultation on the draft toolkit is

22 April 2013 after which responses will be reviewed in

preparation for the launch of the final toolkit in late Spring

2013.

CONTACTS

If you would like to discuss any issues contained in this

briefing, please get in touch your usual DLA Piper relationship

contact in the first instance.