Bevan Brittan re-appointed to update 4ps Leisure Procurement Pack 

4ps, the local government procurement expert, has re-appointed Bevan Brittan LLP and PMP Consultancy Ltd to update the current Leisure Procurement Pack in preparation for a new round of PFI and PPP schemes set to come to market later this year.

The procurement pack, which includes guidance and draft project documentation, was originally designed by 4Ps, Bevan Brittan and PMP to help clarify and progress the emerging leisure PFI/PPP market. 

The pack was introduced in 2001 alongside the four pathfinder leisure PFI schemes: Amber Valley Borough Council, Breckland Council, Penwith District Council and London Borough of Lewisham.  Penwith is currently the only scheme to have closed although it is anticipated that Breckland and Lewisham will close during the course of the next few months. 

Paul Kelly, Senior Executive at 4ps commented: “The initial leisure pack was one of 4ps’ first Procurement Packs and helped progress what at the time was a relatively immature PPP/PFI market. The revised Procurement Pack will help achieve consistency and enable the leisure sector to focus its energies on delivering affordable and innovative PPP/PFI solutions."

Penny Rinta-Suksi, Senior Associate at Bevan Brittan commented: “Although there was wide level consultation in respect of the development of the initial procurement pack, it was only in attempting to close out the four pathfinder schemes that bidders, funders and local authorities became fully engaged in finding solutions to the key issues in these schemes. Whilst there are now acceptable solutions to a number of the leisure specific issues that have cropped up on these projects, the projects that have a large degree of refurbishment or mixed usage have not progressed as quickly as a new build leisure centre project. The guidance needs to address this, particularly if DCMS intends to support multi-use facilities and encourage projects which exceed the £20 million threshold recommended by the Treasury in "PFI: Meeting the Investment Challenge". The guidance also needs to make reference to prudential borrowing and DBOMs (design, build, operate and manage contracts)."