Public sector projects have taken a bit of a hammering over the past few years and not without reason. Issues including the Chinook helicopter delivery and the Libra IT project for magistrates courts have helped to create a climate of low expectations.

With the bill for the public sector's failing flirtations with private sector consultancies and suppliers running into billions, it was inevitable that something had to give. The public sector has been rather like a pressure cooker waiting to let off steam and that steam has finally come in the form of possible legal action.

Faced with mounting problems in its tax credit system, HM Revenues and Customs is considering court action against IT systems supplier EDS. Negotiations are ongoing between the two parties.

Last month, HM Revenues and Customs executive chairman, David Varney, said that "there is not a group of people out there willing to offer you a payment of damages and not price it into their contract." You can sense his frustration. Many years of public sector procurement stacked heavily in favour of private sector coffers has taken its toll. The lack of accountability for poor project delivery and failing products has squeezed faith out of the public/private relationship - and seriously undermined the term 'partnership'.

And he has a point. It makes sense for government departments to start demanding more accountability. Purchasers need to go about their business safe in the knowledge that what they are buying does exactly what it says on the tin. If they commission a consultancy to deliver a project then they have every right to expect that project to be successfully delivered on time and on budget.

Varney's comments, however, might be met with derision. Few businesses would expose themselves to damages in a contract without in some way covering themselves in the pricing. Given the scale of many public sector projects and procurements these damages would surely be enough to ruin a business in one fell swoop. The scramble for public sector business would surely dry up for fear of failure.

So if businesses won't offer a payment of damages are lawyers really the answer? If anything, the threat of legal action is counter-productive and ultimately damaging to any relationship.

It is always there of course, as it is in private sector work, but there is usually another way.

It is reasonable to expect suppliers and consultancies to share the financial risks of large public projects. It is a team game after all. But it is how you do this that is the most challenging aspect of the relationship.

Building risk/reward factors into contracts and basing a percentage of consultancy fees on given results is a far more productive way to ensure that there is some comeback. It is a complex situation given that there are so many parties involved in the supply chain. Other companies come into the mix and the purchasing picture is complex.

There is nothing like a bit of pressure on a company's payment terms to instil some urgency and attention to detail. The current lack of pressure is perhaps the root of the problem. For so long the public sector has been a cash cow for private sector business - leading to complacency and a lack of customer focus.

Surely basing part of their fees on successful project delivery is the best way to get their blood pumping again.