Issues have arisen in recent years regarding JICRs, resulting in reduced shares in insurance cost savings being paid to authorities. In 2021, Partnerships Bulletin reported that issues related to insurance cost sharing arrangements were in some cases pushing projects towards potential disputes in PFI contracts.
However, the new arrangement seeks to address this issue, with Local Partnerships providing immediate helpdesk support through the IPA’s Local Government Budget.
The support will cover three areas: a review of JICRs, advising on interpretation and compliance with relevant drafting; supporting authorities in drafting correspondence to challenge a JICR; and supporting authorities in meetings with PFI contractors and related parties including advising on meeting preparation.
Local Partnerships added that there is a limited window to reject a JICR, and it therefore recommends authorities “forward any JICR immediately on receipt from the PFI contractor to Local Partnerships so we can carry out a review and feed back comments quickly”.
For more information, authorities are advised to get in touch with Georgia Lewis and Michael Berrington at Local Partnerships, who can be contacted at georgia.lewis@localpartnerships.gov.uk and michael.berrington@localpartnerships.gov.uk
Partnerships Bulletin recently spoke to Local Partnership chief executive, Adele Gritten, about her plans for the organisation as part of our 3Ps in a Pod podcast series. To listen to the interview, click here.