Contract management and SLA's

Contract management is a major factor in the success or failure of a contract.

All contracts should have a nominated officer with responsibility for monitoring and managing the contract, which includes the development of good relationships.

 Regular contract meetings throughout the life of the contract between the council and the supplier are recommended to ensure that both parties are satisfied with the performance of the contract.

Contract agenda meeting templates can be found below:

• Formal Contract Meeting Agenda (Word Document, 0.1 Mb)
• Informal Contract Meeting Agenda (Word Document, 0.1 Mb)
• Informal Contract List (Word Document, 0.1 Mb) 
• Informal Meeting Risk (Word Document, 0.1 Mb)

For further guidance on contract management please refer to the below document provided by the Crown Commercial service:

• Contract Management Principles (PDF Document, 0.1 Mb)

Service Level Agreements (SLA's)

A SLA defines the level of service which we expect from our service providers. Where appropriate, Service Level Agreements should be included within the quotation/tender documentation, outlining the principles on which we would like to manage the contract.

It is often one of the key points in negotiating contracts as suppliers may be reluctant to accept any form of monitoring or remedy for failure. Sometimes non-financial remedies can be a good compromise e.g. free training sessions.

All targets set in an SLA must be realistically achievable & mutually agreed. Factors to consider are:

• Nominated staff allocated to the contract
• Required responses to queries & account management information
• Requirements for meetings & contract reviews
• Non-financial remedies
• Appropriateness

SLA’s have a key role in ensuring that the council are successful with the Management of the contracts they hold, achieving the level of service it has agreed to pay for.

They should be as simple as possible as they will need to be measurable if a claim is to be made against them.

Many SLA’s only focus on help-desk support and fail to address quality of service issues, which are the most common reasons why client departments want to terminate contracts early.