ABSTRACT
One of the mechanisms people used in National Rail Enquiries is to avoid long contract commitments but to also leave the contracts with plenty of room for rolling extensions. That gives a natural break if the service isn't going well but allows to run it on if it is. A long fixed-term contract gives the supplier the security but, to a certain extent, removes the drive to excel in the role as they have a fixed term in the bag. One of the mechanisms also uses is to get a great deal of transparency of costs in the agreement and to ensure that the costs reflect the cost drivers behind them. There is no harm in getting the workings behind the costs from the supplier and including those in the contract. The allocation of risk needs to be carefully considered. At National Rail Enquiries people adopted the principle that the risk should lie where the control of that risk lies.
